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The event raises money to provide lifesaving cancer care to Southwest Florida children

August 4, 2022 – Sponsors are needed for the 5th Annual Clips for Cancer, a month-long event in September that raises money to ensure that programs and services are available for local children diagnosed with cancer at Golisano Children’s Hospital.

Clips for Cancer aims to raise $500,000 to benefit Barbara’s Friends – Golisano Children’s Hospital’s cancer fund. Barbara’s Friends has a 27-year history of helping kids with cancer and life-threatening blood disorders, ensuring that no child is denied treatment due to an inability to pay. Every donation to Barbara’s Friends supports lifesaving services, programs and equipment for the young patients at Golisano Children’s Hospital.

To raise awareness and local support in honor of National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Southwest Florida community leaders will have their heads shaved by Golisano Children’s Hospital pediatric cancer survivors live on Facebook every Friday in September. These leaders will be rallying donations and braving the shave in a personal show of solidarity for children battling cancer and other blood disorders.

Funds raised through Clips for Cancer help children like Libbi. Libbi was diagnosed in 2020 at only 20 months old with a Wilm’s tumor, a rare kidney cancer that primarily affects children. Only 500 Wilm’s tumors are diagnosed in the U.S. each year. After treatment, the tumor returned in April 2021, and Libbi received inpatient chemotherapy. In April 2022, Libbi “rang the bell” at Golisano Children’s Hospital, signifying that she is cancer free.

“In our situation with a kid with cancer, the last thing we had to worry about was resources and the level of care that she was going to receive,” said Chris LeDuff, Libbi’s father.

For families, Golisano Children’s Hospital provides the necessary support and resources to help them make it through such difficult circumstances, and generous donors help ensure no family has to face a cancer diagnosis alone. Clips for Cancer has raised more than $500,000 in the past four years.

Funds raised through Clips for Cancer are important because:

  • More than 50 children were diagnosed with cancer in Southwest Florida in the last year.
  • More than half of Golisano Children’s Hospital’s patients are underinsured, on Medicaid or have no insurance – yet no child is denied treatment.
  • The children’s hospital is one of only nine centers in Florida to offer complete pediatric cancer care.
  • As a member of the Children’s Oncology Group, Golisano Children’s Hospital brings world-class cancer care close to home, offering the same treatments as other centers of excellence.
  • The survival rate for pediatric cancer at the children’s hospital is 84% – higher than the national average.
  • Golisano Children’s Hospital has more than 90 children in current treatment with close to 300 children receiving continued and follow-up care.

Clips for Cancer sponsorship opportunities include: $50,000 Go for Gold sponsor, $25,000 Best Friend sponsor, $10,000 Champion sponsor and $5,000 Anniversary sponsor. Sponsorship packages can include mention/logos on news releases, e-blasts, website, Facebook Live shaving events and event posters, VIP celebration invitations, tours of Golisano Children’s Hospital and the Barbara’s Friends oncology/hematology unit and other benefits.

In addition, members of the community are invited to show their support by volunteering to have their heads shaved and raising $5,000 or more to support kids with cancer and the pediatric hematology and oncology program.

For information on becoming a sponsor, supporting Clips for Cancer or volunteering to participate, visit BarbarasFriends.org/ClipsForCancer or email Amy.Frith@LeeHealth.org.

About Barbara’s Friends – Helping Kids with Cancer at Golisano Children’s Hospital 

Established in 1995, Barbara’s Friends provides equipment, staffing and services to support lifesaving cancer care for children from across Southwest Florida at Golisano Children’s Hospital. The Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Program is the only program of its kind in Southwest Florida and has served over 10,000 patients since opening. No child is denied treatment or turned away as a result of their family’s inability to pay for care. For more information about Barbara’s Friends fund and supporting child patients in your community, please call Lee Health Foundation at 239-343-6950 or visit BarbarasFriends.org.

About Golisano Children’s Hospital

Established in 1994, Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida has been named a “Top Hospital” by The Leapfrog Group for the past three years. It is the only recognized children’s hospital between Tampa and Miami. Lee Health opened the new 128-bed Golisano Children’s Hospital in May 2017, relocating the children’s hospital from the adjacent HealthPark Medical Center. It includes comprehensive pediatric services including a 24-hour pediatric emergency department, hematology-oncology unit, milk lab, Regional Perinatal Intensive Care Center, and Level II and Level III NICU with 64 private rooms. Golisano Children’s Hospital is proud to have been named Soliant’s 2018 Most Beautiful Hospital in the U.S., a recognition determined by popular vote. For more information, visit GolisanoChildrensSWFL.org.