Category: Events
I want to introduce our followers to Jonathan Agin who joined The Max Cure Foundation (MCF) as of January 1, 2015. I met Jonathan as a result of our being members of the Coalition Against Childhood Cancer (CAC2). I am a member as a result of MCF being one of about 74 pediatric cancer foundations, which are members, and Jonathan is one of 23 individual advocates. We are both attorneys trained to advocate for our clients. We also are both involved in advocating for children with cancer and their families, each of us having been directly affected by pediatric cancer. (more…)
THE RUNNING COMPANY STORES AND CROSSFIT TREEHOUSE COLLECT SNEAKERS TO SUPPORT PEDIATRIC CANCER RESEARCH
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS ON TRACK FRIDAY
NEW YORK, NY – The Max Cure Foundation, a national pediatric cancer foundation, is pleased to announce that The New Jersey Running Company and CrossFit TreeHouse in Kenilworth, NJ have chosen the pediatric cancer foundation to be the beneficiary of their TRACK FRIDAY events.
The Max Cure Foundation is a non profit children’s cancer charity whose mission is to raise money to fund the development of less toxic treatments for children and also to provide financial support to low-income and military families who have a child battling cancer.
Both organizations will be collecting sneakers for MCF’s DUNK YOUR KICKS campaign, a national campaign to collect new and gently used sneakers for a recycler who sells those sneakers to exporters/distributors as part of the Affordable Clothing Market. MCF receives $1 per pair for facilitating the collection.
Track Friday’s mission is to create a national charitable giving event held annually on the day after Thanksgiving to inspire philanthropy, health, and community. Track Friday participants can support any charity, raise any amount, and run or walk any distance on any track, at any time of the day on Track Friday. The Track Friday team will be hosting a flagship event at Middletown High School North in Middletown, NJ. They will be collecting sneakers at this location. But Track Friday is a virtual event as well, with participants even planning “meetups” at tracks anywhere! Visit the website for meet up locations.
Thanks to CrossFit TreeHouse and The New Jersey Running Company, Dunk Your Kicks is becoming a big part of the Track Friday Experience.
The New Jersey Running Company will donate $1 per pair of shoes donated on 11/28 through 11/30 at David Brearley High School in Kenilworth. The New Jersey Running Company is continuously collecting sneakers at the following locations:
New Jersey Running Company – Hoboken, Princeton Running Company,Westfield Running Company, Summit Running Company, Ridgewood Running Company and the Morristown Running Company.
CrossFit TreeHouse is doing a Workout of the Day (WOD) in support of Max Cure Foundation. Their fundraising page is at http://www.razoo.com/
You can Dunk Your Kicks at Crossfit TreeHouse through the end of the month at 725 Lexington Ave, Kenilworth, NJ 07033 or at their Track Friday event located at the David Brearley track at 401 Monroe Ave in Kenilworth.
Max Cure Supporters can #RoarWithCPK
California Pizza Kitchen (CPK), the authority on California-style pizza and the industry leader in creative dining, is inviting customers to eat pizza and help make a difference in the fight against pediatric cancer. CPK has designated December 10 and 11th as donation days at 36 participating locations where customers can opt to have 20% of their check donated to The Max Cure Foundation, a pediatric cancer foundation whose mission is to fund research to find less toxic treatments for children. You must bring the flier to participate! (more…)
Today I am pleased to share news about an important animated film, Henry & Me, that I hope you will agree, can raise much needed awareness of the needs of pediatric cancers and also help raise funds for multiple charities, including two pediatric cancer organizations, The Max Cure Foundation and St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. (more…)
The Love of a Child Knows No Bounds
From the very moment the boys, Alex and Jacob – 8 respectively, met Max Plotkin – 11 years old, they knew they wanted to get involved in his cause. The story of Max has been in headlines across the country; battling cancer at such a young age and now (cancer-free) fighting with his family and The Max Cure Foundation to bring comfort and charity to low-income and military families across the country fighting to overcome pediatric cancers themselves. The boys have taken inspiration from Max’s bravery and have turned it in to action for the betterment of children and families fighting for their lives.
The Max Cure Foundation coordinates a program entitled “Dunk Your Kicks” which takes used athletic shoes and recycles them, giving new footwear to developing countries and in turn receiving money that goes directly in to the coffers of pediatric cancer funding for research, preventative medicine, and solace that families caring for children in the hospital so desperately need. It keeps shoes out of dumpsters and landfills, and provides footwear for people on the other side of the planet who may never have the comfort. Further, it is not asking of any monetary contributions out of the pockets of hard working people, but rather the benefits are three-fold – getting rid of shoes they were going to throw out anyway, giving the hope of a better life to a cancer patient, and a chance at a more sustainable life to a person across the globe.
Jacob and Alex began a shoe drive with the tremendous support of the staff at the Driftwood Daycamp in Melville, NY. Culminating in some exciting Sneaker Games while families of the children, staff of the Driftwood Day Camp, and Founder of the Max Cure Foundation David Plotkin, celebrated the boys’ accomplishments with a dunk challenge breaking records that made the kids extremely excited! In the mission statement the boys have shared they state:
“We have met Max and his bravery is an inspiration to us. Luckily he is now 11 years old and cancer-free, thanks to the help he received from doctors and scientists. But other children are still sick, and that is why we all need to work together to help them. Help us raise money for kids who have cancer by donating old shoes. Please ask your mom, dads, and other family members to clean out their closets and donate sneakers they don’t need anymore. … If we all work together, we can make a difference and help other kids and their families, and feel really good about what we are doing.”
Having loving parents, moms, dads, grandparents, giving friends, neighbors, co-workers, supportive camp counselors, teachers, and inspirations like the Plotkin’s can help two young boys show their love for strangers – Children they have never met but want to help – While realizing their aspirations for philanthropy can be achieved to such great heights. Over 1,000 pair of sneakers makes an impact that is far greater than the Max Cure Foundation can show appreciation for. Alex and Jacob are the heroes in this headline story and are becoming an inspiration to others.
Author: Serena Knierim, Max Cure Volunteer, Arizona
Lion Max took a trip from the east coast to visit some children at the Phoenix Children’s Hospital in July 2014. With Team Max Cure Superhero capes in hand, he joined some friends to serve smiles in the summer heat.
Jaida (8), Jordan (8), Chloe (8) -and the newest member (not pictured) Emily (8) have decided to take a stand against pediatric cancer.
The Tucson Brownie Troop who has dedicated their service project to Dunk Your Kicks joined Lion Max and Little Lion Max (Jayden, a 6-year-old Chandler resident) and his sister (Angelisa, age 12) and handed out capes and other fun gifts to the kids receiving treatment that day. Troop leader Nicole Hopkins said “visiting the children and staff at Phoenix Children’s Hospital really helped our girls connect with their Take Action Project, and has given them renewed vigor in their desire to help these families. Meeting Max the Lion was pretty cool also. The girls really want to visit again and spend more time with the kids, and they ALL promise to sing this time!”
It was a privileged to watch the beauty behind their innocence, wanting to make a difference but too young to really understand. Little Lion Max and the girls were a bit nervous at first. Not fully understanding what these kids were at the hospital for, or what their exact purpose there meant, it was a little difficult at first to warm up but by the time everyone left, Chloe (age 8) even sang “Bumble Bee” for everyone. It was fun to watch children, parents, nurses and a big lion squishing “bees” with their hands and laughing!
Kiersten, a local Mom and Max Cure Volunteer also joined us. Even though she has never personally been affected by pediatric cancer, she makes it her mission to become a voice for these children. “For nearly two years I’ve been fighting for children with cancer, but I never had the opportunity to actually meet who I’m fighting for. When Erica invited me to join, I can’t deny how nervous I was!! I fight for these kids, because I’m a mother myself!! Our kids need more treatment options!!” She stated.
“Running races and raising awareness for childhood cancer is one thing, going in and spreading happiness with children fighting for their lives is another. So I took the advice I was given, didn’t put on my mascara and headed for the Phoenix Children’s Hospital. I walked through those doors and what I found was the most strong, brave and courageous little people I’ve ever meet!! No tears streamed my face, I was in awe of these kids spirit and strength!! They have more strength in their young years than I could gain in a lifetime!!”
It was a special day for us all at Max Cure and we hope we were able to give the same to the children we met. The Brownie Troop has set an aggressive goal so they may adopt families in our Roar Beyond Barriers Arizona program. We solute them and hope you will support them in their efforts. To date they have donated 154 pair and have a goal to reach 5,000 which would support 3 families for 6 months.
The pediatric cancer community through the Alliance for Childhood Cancer on Tuesday, June 24, 2014, went to Capitol Hill to meet with Senators and Congressmen from all 50 States. The Max Cure Foundation joined forces with over 60 other CAC2 organizations (The Coalition Against Childhood Cancer – A Collaborative Group) and other advocates from the childhood cancer community to both virtually and physically storm Washington, D.C. (more…)
The Max Cure Foundation is proud to announce that we will be teaming up with the Hamptons Marathon this year and the Bridgehampton Half Marathon in 2015. The Hamptons Marathon gives 100% of their proceeds to different charities each year, and Max Cure is thrilled to have been selected as one of them for this year’s race.
Considering that David Plotkin, Max Cure founder, spent his summers growing up in the Hamptons, and also that Max spent many days recuperating from treatment in Amagansett, we are especially excited to return to our founder’s roots, the site of where it all started for our foundation. We know that we will have an enormous amount of support from our followers in that area, in addition to the support of the Hamptons Marathon, which is very pleased to have us at their events.
The Hamptons Marathon has invited Max Cure and to collect sneakers for our Dunk Your Kicks initiative on their packet pickup days and on the race days. The Dunk Your Kicks program has been crucial to our efforts over the years, and we are very grateful for the opportunity to further expand those efforts at the races in September of this year and May of next.
Through the Dunk Your Kicks program, the Max Cure Foundation will collect used sneakers from participants at the race. For each pair of sneakers donated, The Max Cure Foundation will receive up to $1.00 from an international shoe recycler called Rethink Nation. The sneakers will then be sold by Rethink Nation at an affordable price in developing nations, saving the shoes from landfills and putting them to good use. The money Max Cure receives through Dunk Your Kicks goes towards funding research for innovative medical techniques to fight pediatric cancer, and also to low-income families of children with pediatric cancer, whom we help through our Roar Beyond the Barriers campaign.
The Hamptons Marathon will take place on September 27, 2014 in East Hampton, New York. There will also be a half marathon at the event, with a 5K. You can register for both the 5K and the Hamptons Marathon at their website, where you can also find directions to the race. Packet pickup dates for the Hamptons Marathon will take place on September 22 and 23 on 140 W 72nd Street in NYC, and on September 26 and 27 at the Spring School in East Hampton. There will also be a 5K on race day, as well as a half marathon in Bridgehampton, New York in May 2015.
We look forward to seeing Max Cure supporters at the Hamptons Marathon and Bridgehampton Half Marathon, where we hope to make yet another stride in our battle against pediatric cancer.
Want to join Team Max Cure and run? We have a few bibs available but fundraising must be completed by August 15, 2014. Email us here for more information.
