Florida Cancer

About Pediatric Cancer Foundation In 1991, two Tampa mothers faced every parent's worst nightmare. Pediatric Cancer. Melissa Helms and Risa Tramel met while their infant daughters were undergoing treatments at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital in Tampa. Through advancements made from research, both Melissa and Risa's daughters survived their battles with cancer and are now healthy young adults. However, with this experience, Melissa and Risa gained an awareness that would inspire them to continue fighting this disease. In 1991, Melissa and Risa co-founded the Pediatric Cancer Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to fund research that will lead to the elimination of childhood cancer worldwide. For the past 18 years, the Foundation has funded more than $3.8 million to researchers. For the first 15 years, we funded seed grants at St. Joesph's Children's Hospital and H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa, All Children's Research Institute in St. Petersburg, the University of Florida in Gainesville, the University of Miami School of Medicine. Great headway was made with these projects, but the progress was slow. We realized that the only way to speed up the process was to encourage leading doctors and researchers to work together. In 2005, the Pediatric Cancer Foundation formed The Sunshine Project, an innovative collaboration with one goal: to bring together the nation's top doctors and researchers to fast-track new treatments and increase the survival rate for children battling cancer.

The Community Foundation of Tampa Bay has been helping donors maximize their giving potential since 1990. They provide personalized recommendations based on donors' interests and match contributions to the greatest needs in the community. With a deep knowledge of the local area and a diverse group of community leaders overseeing the foundation, they strive to create a greater collective impact and make giving meaningful for both donors and the nonprofits they support. The foundation supports critical needs in the community through initiatives like the Critical Needs List, which addresses unexpected needs of under-resourced nonprofits. They also focus on initiatives like Mental Health First Aid, offering free training to staff of nonprofits and public service agencies. Through their efforts, they aim to create a brighter future by working together with donors, advisors, and nonprofits in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, and Citrus counties.Generated from the website