It's Our Mission
The mission of Book for Hope, Inc. is to raise childhood cancer awareness, financially support families in Western Kentucky and Southern Illinois that have a child going through cancer treatment, and donate to childhood cancer research.
IN THE LAST 20 YEARS ONLY 6 CANCER TREATMENTS HAVE BEEN SPECIFICALLY DEVELOPED AND APPROVED FOR CHILDREN
BOOK FOR HOPE® GIVES FUNDS TO CHILDHOOD CANCER RESEARCH AND HELPS SUPPORT FAMILIES. THEY HAVE THREE MAIN GOALS:
Raise Overall Childhood Cancer Awareness.
Book for Hope® is striving to raise overall Childhood Cancer Awareness.
Increase Funding for Childhood Cancer
By donating proceeds from events, Book for Hope® is helping increase funding for Childhood Cancer.
Offset Expenses for Families
Book for Hope® is helping offset the expenses incurred by families of children battling cancer.
The Inspiration
The inspiration behind Book for Hope®, Inc. came from the book, It’s Christmas Again written by Gaylon Hayden, a cancer survivor who was diagnosed with cancer on Christmas Eve, 2007. Gaylon wanted to give back to the ones who had been her inspiration throughout her surgeries and treatments. Gaylon was fifty one years old when she was diagnosed, and from that point on, her heart and mind stayed focused on helping children battling cancer. She knew they were ordinary children with childlike joys, hopes and dreams; however, at the same time they were dealing with a life threatening cancer diagnosis. Her oncologist explained that when a child is diagnosed with cancer, it hits them ten times harder than an adult. For this reason children with cancer are treated more aggressively than adults.
The Inspiration
Gaylon began researching the National Cancer Institute website while making phone calls to NCI, and exchanging emails with them only to find out that children receive just 4% of funding from the federal government. Another statistic that grabbed Gaylon’s heart was that one in 285 children will be diagnosed with cancer before their 20th birthday.
At that point, Hayden felt that God led her to pen a book written in words that children could understand. It would be a book of hope and encouragement, expressing that there can be life after a cancer diagnosis. She chose to receive no royalty money from the sale of the book. This is how the Childhood Cancer Organization began in January, 2015 and was named Book for Hope®. The reason the nonprofit received the name Book for Hope® is to give children and their loved ones hope, assuring them that cancer is not always a death sentence and that there are options after a cancer diagnosis.
Book for Hope® Story
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.
Close your eyes for a moment and just imagine this was your child; what would you want people to do? Until childhood cancer is completely eradicated, we all have a role to play. Please do your part to help other children like Kendall and Daniel. Be a participant with us, in a child’s fight against cancer.
Book for Hope®, Inc. is organized and will be operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes within the meaning of Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 or its successor provisions.
JUST IMAGINE® is the Registered Trademark of Book for Hope Childhood Cancer Organization