A Lot Can Happen in a Year
How many of us could have predicted in early 2020 what our life would resemble by early 2021? I am aware of very few who did not experience significant change in their lives. The pandemic caused many people to take a pause and reflect on how they wanted to move forward.
For the leaders of The ChadTough Foundation and Michael Mosier Defeat DIPG Foundation, that pause led to the realization that we could be tougher together. Funding together for the past four years, it became apparent that the Carrs and Mosiers were very like-minded while being focused on the same mission. Both organizations had a strong commitment to minimize expenses and to use every dollar possible for research, so why were we duplicating administrative efforts, and why weren’t we collaborating even more to make the biggest impact we possibly could?
Meanwhile, families like the Petrzelkas and the Siecks were desperate to pause their lives but couldn’t. Each family faced a DIPG diagnosis after the start of the pandemic, and each also experienced the loss of their precious child. And these families were not alone. Up to 300 families faced a DIPG diagnosis this past year in the United States. The only difference the pandemic made was making it that much harder to seek treatment.
So, as we emerge as the new ChadTough Defeat DIPG Foundation, we have more resolve than ever to help find effective treatments for DIPG. We are more dedicated than ever to drive widespread awareness for the disease responsible for almost half of all pediatric brain cancer deaths, the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among children. Five or six years should NEVER be a lifetime.
We need you now more than ever. Whether you are donating, sponsoring, volunteering, fundraising, participating in an event, or advocating, YOU are a part of the cure.
Welcome to the new ChadTough Defeat DIPG Foundation! Thank you for being a part of our team. Let’s get to work for that cure!
Ann Friedholm
CEO