Day 19: Where the money goes

Day 19: Shane’s Future Days

In December 2014, our friends urged us to create a foundation in Shane’s honor. We were still in the middle of our fight and it seemed like the furthest thing from our mind, but with their support and encouragement, Shane’s Future Days was established.

Research and advocacy were the main focus at the time, but as we moved further into our journey and experienced more,
we realized we needed to expand our mission to include assisting families battling rare cancers.

We are incredibly thankful for this past year.
Our 3rd annual Celebration of Life raised $17,000 this year!

Where does the money raised go?

Last year, we were able to expand our footprint as a foundation. We extended our support to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Palliative Care Team’s psycho/social team.

This team was introduced to our family in November 2014 after we returned from our second opinion in Boston. Our child life specialist worked closely with Chase and Ella preparing them for the day when Shane would no longer be with us. They taught them to express their feelings and deal with their emotions in a healthy manner, through art at first and now they are able to verbally express themselves to us. They helped us create memories with Shane and have keepsakes to remember his amazing spirit.

Through them and other foundations, we have adopted families during the holiday season. Cancer is a financial burden. Having the financial assistance and someone to force you to celebrate, can help get you through the holidays and find comfort in the season more than you know. We also provide support to families throughout the year, when needed.

Additionally, Shane’s mouse model and tumor cells have assisted the Children’s Cancer Therapy Development Institute launch the first national Phase I rhabdomyosarcoma clinical trial. We are so proud that we have been able to donate $45,000 to date to this amazing research lab. This year, our donated funds went to their Curefast tumor donation program which helps continue research for rare cancers, like Shane’s.

It’s been three years since the establishment of our foundation and we feel like this is only the beginning! Thank you for being there from the beginning and helping us get this far.

 

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