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2021 ANNUAL APPEAL: Our Children
STAYING THE COURSE

Michael taught us not to stop when we
KEEP PUSHING
TOWARD BETTER DAYS are tired. We stop when we are done! He
pushed himself and finished many hard
things, including every cross-country race
in 7th grade after his cancer returned.
He remained our inspiration as we set
up our 2021 Appeal as a cross country
course inviting you to run with us.
We are so excited to share “Our Children”, a tribute
CANCER IS HARD. Our supporters picked up the pace as page on our GFAC website. Since we started GFAC
FINDING CURES IS HARD.
we raised over $310
AND…. we raised over $310,000! The funding we have wanted to share the stories of the amazing
allowed us to renew children and families who made the selfless decision
TER
TER PLAN
MICHAEL’S MASTER PLAN N Swifty is Staying the Course
Swifty is Staying the Course
T T T Tissue
Tissue
issue
Autopsy Tissue Research Cures s T Tissue
Tissue
Tissue
issue
arch Cure
issue
issue
issue
issue
donation is is
donation
expensive, our gift agreements to donate brain and spine tissue to accelerate scientific
expensive,
complicated
complicated
and rare
and rare
Doctors not
Do
Doctors not
Do tors not for tissue navigators at discovery. These children and families donate to help
requesting
requesting
requesting
requesting
requesting
requesting
requesting
Cancer is the
Cancer is the requesting
tissue donations
tissue donations
tissue donations
tissue donations
tissue donations
tissue donations
tissue donations
tissue donations
tissue donations
leading cause of
leading cause of
death by disease for
death by disease for
children in the U.S. Stanford Healthcare and the next family walking the cancer journey. Please
children in the U.S.
Educate
Educate
Educate
Educate
Educate
Educate
Educate
Educate
Families
Families
Researchers need
Researchers need
Researchers need
Researchers need
Researchers need
Researchers need
tissue: families
tissue: families
tissue: families at Children’s National in visit: giftfromachild.org/our-children/ to meet kids
tissue: families
tissue: families
tissue: families
unaware
unaware
unaware
unaware
Every family unaware
Every family
Every family
given the choice
given the choice
given the choice
given the choice
given the choice
DC. It is also helping to like Andrew, “Andrew approached everything with the
to donate
to donate
to donate
to donate
Swifty
Swifty
funds Tissue
funds Tissue
Navigators to
Navigators to pay the donation costs at diplomacy of a charismatic world leader, the strategy
facilitate child’s
facilitate child’s
donation
donation CHILDHOOD CANCER
Swifty financial
Swifty financial
CHILDHOOD CANCER
CHILDHOOD CANCER
CHILDHOOD CANCER
supporters
supporters Arnold Palmer Children’s of a professional chess player and often displayed the
Processing tissue,
Processing tissue,
sharing cell lines and
sharing cell lines and
data globally
data globally
Hospital, GFAC’s newest fury of a hurricane, while somehow still maintaining
center of excellence. the whimsy of a 4-year-old boy.” You will be better for
having met these children.
SOUL by Patti Gustafson
“Walking with a companion in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.” This
FOOD Helen Keller quote is at the top of Gift from a Child’s Family Companion website page.
We offer companions to families facing the loss of a child to brain cancer. Companions
are moms of children who have ALREADY lost a child to this horrible disease. They support, listen to, and walk
alongside parents at this unimaginable time.
I love our companions. They are strong, committed and so devoted to being with families at the darkest time.
Not an easy role to take on. Yet they do. Even knowing how difficult being with these families will be, here’s
a recent response from a companion mom when asked to companion a new family, “Yes, always!!!”
Three exclamation points. That’s how ready they are to face this challenge.
Companioning families is my favorite part of the work I do for Swifty. I know in the deepest
part of myself that I’m making a difference for this mom/dad. That no one else has the
credibility, the deep understanding that I can offer them at this time. And I am grateful for
the opportunity to help.
Here’s a quote from a mom who was recently companioned through the loss of her
child and decision to donate her child’s post-mortem tissue,“First and foremost,
THANK YOU. Thank you for being there for us but more importantly thank you
for creating such a heart-felt organization. After 2 years of no options, you
gave us one. One that will undoubtedly change children’s lives.”
That is food for my soul… to hear from another mom, thank you, you gave
us options when no one else could and at our darkest time. THAT’S what
keeps us doing this difficult work.
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