Five Questions with CureSearch

Across the country, Trademark’s properties partner with local nonprofits in the community to support their unique missions through events, donations and more. At Burr Ridge Village Center, a unique event called Sip, Shop & Give was created to benefit CureSearch for Children’s Cancer.

Attendees spent an evening strolling and shopping select Burr Ridge stores and restaurants while tasting a variety of wines, cocktails and beers and listening to some great live music. Those who chose to make a donation to CureSearch received a souvenir wine glass and goodie bag. Ultimately, the eventraised both funds and awareness for CureSearch. CureSearch’s Erin Richey talks about how community support helps them accomplish their mission.

Q: How does CureSearch for Children’s Cancer support children’s cancer research?

A: At CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, we’ve made it our mission is to protect the future of every child diagnosed with cancer through the delivery of more effective, less toxic treatments. We do this in two ways:

#1 – Investing in the Most Promising Research

We support mission-critical research in three stages, bringing a unique continuum to children’s cancer research:

  • Young Investigator Program – We provide seed funding for early-stage researchers to support basic science, ensuring the brightest minds in pediatric cancer remain in the field.
  • Acceleration Initiative – We take basic science to the next level, translating discovery into new therapies ready for clinical trial.
  • Catapult Awards – Without assistance, great research can remain stuck in the lab, never entering the drug development phase. We’ve stepped up to lead the charge with experts in regulation, pharma and academia to catapult promising treatments out of the lab and into clinical trials and commercialization, where new drugs can help save children’s lives.

#2 – Helping Children and Families Cope with a Cancer Diagnosis

We focus on healing a child diagnosed with cancer, and helping families and caregivers get the mental, emotional and psychosocial support they need: 

  • CureSearch Community Impact Awards (CCIA) Families need help coping with emotional, mental and psychological anxieties when confronted with a cancer diagnosis. To assist, we offer grants to local hospitals to provide psycho-social programs for children and their families.
  • Educational Resources Concerned families have many questions when someone they love is diagnosed with cancer. We develop and share expert-vetted cancer resources and videos, accessed on our website by over one million people each year.
  • Community Events – We celebrate and honor our youngest cancer survivors through our heartwarming SuperHeroes Unite! events that take place year-round throughout the country, raising critical funds to support research and programs

Q: One of your events – Sip, Shop & Give – is hosted at Burr Ridge. What was the inspiration behind this event?

A: Actually, the inspiration for this event came from Christina Komer, the Marketing Director at Burr Ridge. We are so grateful to her and the Burr Ridge Village Center for providing us with the opportunity to raise awareness and funds for CureSearch.

Q: How does the community support CureSearch?

A: The community can support CureSearch in a variety of ways. One way is through Sip, Shop, and Give at Burr Ridge. Another way is through our Superheroes Unite! event that is at Boomer’s Stadium on September 24. www.curesearchsuperheroesunite.org/chicagoland. On this day, we celebrate, honor, and remember children from the Chicagoland area that have been affected by children’s cancer. The community can also get involved in supporting CureSearch by having their own event and raising funds on the CureSearch Gold site. www.curesearchgold.org. We also have an opportunity for runners to get involved with CureSearch through our Challenge program and hikers through the Ultimate Hike program. www.curesearchchallenge.org www.ultimatehike.org. Finally, people can always donate directly to CureSearch by visiting www.curesearch.org.

Q: What makes the Burr Ridge community unique?

A: The Burr Ridge community is so supportive! In just a few short hours, over $3,000 was raised two years in a row for CureSearch. Not many communities can do that.

Q: What has the most rewarding accomplishment been for the foundation?

A: By demanding patient-centered outcomes for our research funding, we have shifted our academic researchers’ approach, as clearly evidenced by one of our first Acceleration Initiative grantees, Dr. Mary Beckerle. Dr. Beckerle noted in her final report that CureSearch had changed the focus of her research team, away from publishing results as the desired outcome, to translating their Ewing sarcoma research into the clinic where children can benefit. That’s what we’re here for!

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Liana Moran
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