2011 Objectives

1. “Fund the Match” – In the long journey from diagnosis, to donor identification, to receiving a life-saving transplant, Kids Beating Cancer is the first step towards a cure. Kids Beating Cancer provides financial assistance for out-of-pocket expenses allowing families to proceed with life-saving treatment for their child.

2. 75% of kids will not find a donor in their family necessitating locating a match through the national Be The Match Registry. For this reason, Kids Beating Cancer will continue to increase and diversify the “Be The Match Registry” through ongoing community education, facilitating marrow donor recruitment drives, and funding the lab testing necessary to DNA type potential donors.

3. Kids Beating Cancer, with expertise supported by its dedicated Medical Advisory Board, will continue to be a trusted resource to children and families, educating and helping them deal with questions and concerns as they proceed through the step-by-step process of transplantation.

4. “Kids need to feel like Kids,” to enhance and inspire children from diagnosis to survivorship, Kids Beating Cancer provides fun activities and resources during treatment and beyond.

New Decade. New Trajectories

1. Rebrand and strategically reposition Kids Beating Cancer to galvanize support in the community and the region and make the Kids Beating Cancer Bone Marrow Transplant Center at Florida Hospital for Children the leader in marrow and stem cell transplantation in the Southeast.

2. Guarantee and ensure that no child will ever be denied treatment regardless of race, ethnicity, or ability to pay; and all children will have access to transplantation by eliminating the financial barriers to receiving this life-saving treatment when they need it.

Impact Statement

In 2011, Kids Beating Cancer added 2,715 new potential marrow donors to the national registry resulting in 164 preliminary matches. Of those, 31 were identified as a perfect match and a child was given the hope of a cure because of Kids Beating Cancer’s unique life savings services. In addition, 300 children and their families participated in local support programs and services.

Recognition

  Best of Orlando article: “Home Grown Charities,” Orlando Magazine, August 2007 issue
  “Always Giving… Never Giving Up” article in Central Florida Doctor Magazine, July 2007 issue
  America’s Charity Top Flight Award 2007
  America’s Charity Top Agency Superstar 2007
  “Amazing Mother” article in Lifestyles Magazine, May 2007 issue
  America’s Charity Award 2006
  “Kids Beating Cancer: Making Miracles One Donor At A Time” article, Lifestyles Magazine, September 2006 issue
  Kids Beating Cancer's Founder and CEO received the impressive 2004 Community Honoree Award from the National Speaking of Women's Health Foundation. This award was presented at the 2004 Orlando Convention on August 14, 2004 at the Orlando Convention Center.
  Kids Beating Cancer (KBC) received a $13,000 "Helping Kids Shine" Grant from the Walt Disney World Corporation in 2004, and from 1997-2001 received Walt Disney World Corporation Community Service Awards, including the "Judges Choice Award" twice, the “Special Judges Award” once, and the "Special Health Services " Award twice, totaling $76,000 donated along with the community service awards. These awards are given to organizations they feel have made significant contributions to the community, surpassing their goals and expectations.
  KBC has met the strict requirements to be accepted as one of America’s Charities for the State of Florida for the past 7 years.
  KBC’s CEO and founder Margaret Guedes received the 2002 Southeastern and National America's Charities Community Leadership Awards for exemplary service to her community and the charitable community at large.

Achievements

  Kids Beating Cancer’s Annual Festival of Lights Holiday Party and Candle Lighting Ceremony has provided toys, bicycles, and teddy bears to over 5,000 physically and financially disadvantaged children with cancer, leukemia and related life-threatening diseases since its first Holiday Party in 1992.
  In 1994 KBC met the stringent qualifications to be contracted with the National Marrow Donor Program as the first Marrow Donor Recruitment Group of its kind for the State of Florida after recruiting, registering and funding the tissue typing lab tests for 1,000 new donors. Now, 17 years later, KBC continues to be a contracted Marrow Donor Recruitment Center for the Be The Match Registry (new name, same Donor Registry) testing thousands of new donors every year.
  KBC has tissue typed (DNA) over 34,000 volunteers.
  KBC facilitates 125-300+ marrow donor recruitment drives every year, funding the DNA testing necessary to identify donors for patients.