When Book for Hope® began, Gaylon thought St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was the only hospital in the world where children could go for childhood cancer treatment. During the first event that Book for Hope® hosted, she and her board met children from the surrounding area who were being treated at various hospitals for cancer and heard stories of children who had received help from many other facilities as well.
In January, 2017 after seeing the financial struggles faced by a family when a child is diagnosed with cancer Gaylon and her board knew they had to help. They voted to allocate funds for approved families who had a child with cancer, and to support childhood cancer research. In 2017 Book for Hope® had the opportunity to help these families by offsetting medical costs, lodging, meals, gas, clothing, utility bills, vehicle payments, house payments, rent, and Christmas gifts. Childhood and adolescent cancer not only affects the child; it also affects the siblings and parents. They were able to journey alongside the entire family. In addition, Book for Hope® gave money to Childhood Cancer Research. All of these efforts were made possible through fundraisers and other events which Book for Hope® hosted. Two families whose children were battling cancer recently received assistance. Six year old Kendall has stage 3 embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma and 15 year old Daniel is dealing with stage 3 of a rare form of anaplastic Non-Hodgkin large cell lymphoma. Through generous donations they were able to help pay for many of the expenses associated with out of town treatment as well as covering needs that go unmet when parents are unable to work.