Students at Madeira Beach Fundamental Accept Challenge From Brain Tumor Charity

Nov. 2, 2010 - PRLog -- Teachers at Madeira Beach Fundamental School recently contacted Miles For Hope in an effort to come up with a creative way to raise awareness and funding for brain tumors after three of the teachers had family or friends affected with the disease. “The students decided they wanted to raise awareness and funding for brain tumors since it is the leading cause of solid tumor cancer death in children under the age of 20”, stated Barb Gibbs, Executive Director for Miles For Hope. “We are currently funding vaccine clinical trials for brain tumors which will include pediatric patients since vaccines are showing the most promise and hope for this disease over the past two decades.  Thanks to the involvement of Madeira Beach Fundamental students, we can continue to find better treatments that provide a better quality of life for those suffering with brain tumors, and ultimately a cure for it”.

The students have been provided grey ribbons and wristbands to give out to people in exchange for a donation.  Incentives have been implemented to encourage a friendly competition.  The class that raises the most in donations, in both the K-5 group as well as the 6th-8th graders, will earn the ability to wear shorts versus their uniform for a day as well as pizza party compliments of Howard’s Heroes’, a cancer charity that works closely with Miles for Hope.  In addition, the individual student that raises the most in donations will receive a VIP experience for four with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Donations will be collected and counted on November 5th, and the awards party will take place on November 12th.  Students from Madeira Beach Fundamental School recently raised almost $ 10,000, the largest amount of donations from all schools in Pinellas County, and 36th highest amount of donations in the nation for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Suncoast Chapter during the recent Pasta for Pennies challenge.

Brain tumors currently affect over 200,000 people each year, one person every 3 minutes in the United States, and they are the leading cause of solid tumor cancer death in children under the age of 20.  In addition, brain tumors are the 2nd leading cause of cancer death in males under the age of 29.  


For additional information on this or other events, please contact Miles for Hope at (727) 781-HOPE (4673) or visit the website at http://MilesForHope.org.

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About Miles For Hope: is dedicated to raising awareness and funding of cutting edge brain tumor research as well as clinical trials and to providing travel assistance to qualified patients. Through our work, we intend on finding not only treatments that provide a better quality of life for those suffering with brain cancer, but to find a cure for it.