Media Contact:
Joe Goedereis
Public Relations
Ethan Jostad Foundation For Childhood Cancer
joe.goedereis@ethanjostadfoundation.org
www.ethanjostadfoundation.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
EAGLE POINT, OREGON – Thursday, December 18th, 2014
The Ethan Jostad Foundation for Childhood Cancer, a 501c3 non-profit charity dedicated to providing support to the children and families affected by childhood cancer, announced today that it's Board of Directors has approved a donation in the amount of $10,000 to the Children's Cancer Therapy Development Institute (cc-TDI for short). The donation will help provide much needed clinical research into difficult to treat childhood cancers and establishes the Ethan Jostad Foundation as a Founding Circle Supporter with cc-TDI.
Chris & Kim Jostad, co-founders of the Ethan Jostad Foundation for Childhood Cancer.
"We're very pleased to continue our support for this much needed childhood cancer research," said Kimberly Jostad, co-founder of the foundation. "EJF has supported Dr. Charles Keller and his team of researchers since 2012 when we made our first contributions to his lab's preclinical studies of Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma, a difficult form of soft tissue sarcoma that took our son Ethan from us at the age of nine."
"We have every confidence in Dr. Keller's research and in is relentless pursuit and dedication to find better and less toxic forms of treatment for the children who deal with this horrible disease every day, " added Chris Jostad, co-founder. "We are encouraged by cc-TDI's mission to bridge scientific research that translates into much needed clinical trials for pediatric cancers, something we are lacking today."
"One of the key reasons we decided to continue our support for Dr. Keller and cc-TD is due to their dedication in researching childhood cancers that are more difficult to treat and that have much lower rates of survival – cancers like Rhabdomyosarcoma and Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Gliomas (or DIPG)," said Kim Jostad. She continued, "Childhood cancer receives very little in research funding from the National Cancer Institute as it is, less than 4% actually, and these particular forms of childhood cancer receive even less in research dollars because of the relatively smaller number of patients. Unfortunately they are also childhood cancers that have a much higher rate of death associated with them. That is why it is so important that we support this research."
Based in Fort Collins, Colorado, the Children's Cancer Therapy Development Institute is led by Scientific Director Charles Keller, MD. A unique research group that is focused on closing what is known as the "pre-clinical gap" in childhood cancer research, the mission of cc-TDI is to provide evidence-based testing for the selection of new drugs that can be used for childhood cancer clinical trials.
For more information about the Childhood Cancer Therapy Development Institute, please visit their website at www.cc-TDI.org and please support their efforts to fund critical childhood cancer research.
If you would like to make a donation to the Ethan Jostad Foundation, click the button below.
ABOUT THE ETHAN JOSTAD FOUNDATION FOR CHILDHOOD CANCER
The Ethan Jostad Foundation was established by Kim and Chris Jostad in October of 2011 in the memory of their son Ethan, who passed away at the young age of 9 from Stage IV Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma, an aggressive form of soft tissue sarcoma cancer. During his two year battle with cancer, Ethan's story became an inspiration to hundred of thousands of people and opened the eyes of many to the plight of children and families who are impacted by pediatric cancer.
The mission of the Ethan Jostad Foundation for Childhood Cancer is to continue Ethan's legacy by providing love, hope, and support to the children and families who continue to fight every day. In addition to funding cutting edge pediatric cancer research, our foundation brings smiles to the faces of children fighting cancer by providing toy packages to children nationwide who are in active treatment, and by providing much needed financial assistance to those families in Oregon. The Ethan Jostad Foundation was voted a Top Charity in 2012 by Chase Community Giving and actively supports and partners with other childhood cancer charities and organizations with the singular goal of finding cures. For more information please visit ethanjostadfoundation.org.