One day, a small child is surrounded by stuffed animals, building blocks, and coloring books in her cozy bedroom. The next day, she is surrounded by strangers in hospital gowns, infusion bags of cytotoxic chemotherapy, and morphine drips in an intensive care unit.

"Kids" and "Cancer". These two words paired together are unthinkable. The word cancer has a devastating impact on all of us – whether it is diagnosed in a parent, sibling, grandparent, friend, or ourselves. But it is hard for others to imagine the depth of devastation when a child is diagnosed with cancer. The impact is truly unimaginable. In fact, it is unthinkable.

At Solving Kids' Cancer, we believe that there is not enough thinking about children with cancer. In fact, how many people really think about these facts?

• Pediatric cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children in the U.S.
• Childhood cancer causes more deaths in the U.S. than diabetes, cystic fibrosis, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, birth defects, meningitis, muscular dystrophy, stroke, heart disease, pneumonia/influenza, and asthma/respiratory disease.
• Only about 30% of kids with some deadly forms of cancer survive for 5 years after diagnosis and this rate hasn't improved for these types of cancers in 30 years.
• Children with cancer lose an average of 70 years of life.
• Even infants get cancer.

Cancer can be diagnosed at any age, but all age groups have not been given the same priority in terms of public attention, research, or availability of therapeutic options. Much of the attention given to cancer—both in public awareness and investments in treatment and research—is given to adults with adult cancers, not children with children's cancers. When an adult dies from cancer, it is tragic. When a child dies from cancer, it is beyond tragic. In fact, it is beyond a descriptive word in our language.

The kids are the reason Solving Kids' Cancer exists. The five facts above are why our organization lives and breathes, structured differently than the status quo. New thinking has to occur and action has to be taken immediately. While there have been great strides in improving survival in many forms of adult cancer and certain pediatric cancers, surprisingly in this time of great progress there has not been similar improvement in survival for children with the most deadly types of children's cancer. Survival rates remain below 30% just as in 1977.

If it takes a village to raise a child, it will take all of us to solve kids' cancer. These children need a partnership of diverse and committed people who are working together to solve kids' cancer. Please join our effort.

You have a chance to make a huge difference in thousands of young lives. You can help Solving Kids' Cancer fund the crucial research that is not being supported today.

We welcome you to learn more about children's cancer, our unique organization, and to become involved as a donor, supporter, or both.

Kids' cancer: think about it.

Thank you!