Summary
Organization name
Summers Way Foundation
2017
Tax id (EIN)
99-0861949
Category
Medical Research, Health Care
Organization Size
Medium Organization
Address
6282 S NETHERLAND WAYCENTENNIAL, CO 80016
CO, US
Summers Way Foundation
A nonprofit organization
$26 raised by 2 donors
100% complete
$0 Goal
About
Custom Tab
Summer's Way Foundation is committed to making a difference both locally in Summer's hometown of Denver, Colorado as well as nationally. This committment of making a meaningful difference is at the core of the Summer's Way Foundation.
We have developed several community programs designed to ease the emotional burdens of families and their child going through cancer. These include our highly acclaimed "Healing Through the Arts" offered at a local childhood cancer hospital, Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children established 2022. Led by a registered Art Therapist, it provides individualized art therapy sessions to pediatric cancer patients promoting emotional resilence through clinically proven art projects. Thus far the program has shown encouraging resuts in alleviating pain, anxiety and depression, while promoting socialization and self expression.
Our other local program which developed out of an unmet need, is our "Wigs for Kids and Teens". It is well known that hair loss can profoundly affect a child's self estreem and social interactions during an extremely challenging period. Summer's Way partners with a local wig designer to offer patients receiving care in Colorado, free wigs and care essentials.
Nationally, the Summer's Way Foundation has built an Interenationally Collaborative Research Network. Since 2018 the foundation has hosted biennial think tank workshops to promote collaborative, innovative research in an effort to haste the discovery of new therapeutics. At the same time, we have instituted a grant program of $50,000 that supports exciting "Young Investigators" our future cancer research leaders. The foundation has also been a leading force in building a coalition of like minded foundations that have supported several research initiatives to include a data initiative through the Soft Tissue Sarcoma Committee of the Children's Oncology Group $90,000 per year, and support of the Beat Childhood Cancer consortium comprised of over 50 hospitals in the US. Beat CC created in 2021 a pediatric sarcoma research arm that holds promise for the first meaningful clinical trail for maintance therapy in rhabdomyosarcoma. Finally, we have provided $25,000 grants to innovative researchers identified in the United States.
Giving Activity
Mission
To advance cures for rare childhood cancers like rhabdomyosarcoma through the building of a collaborative community that fosters innovative research, and one that connects families with impactful, accessible resources.
Background Statement
Summer's Way Foundation is commiteed to carrying out its mission to advance cures in childhood cancers while providing support services for families facing the cancer journey. The foundation was founded in 2017, two years after the loss of Summer Hammond from rhabdomyosarcoma. Summer was diagnosed with this less common form of childhood cancer on her 16th birthday. Despite the challenges and the devestation the cancer had on Summer's physical condition, she never let it define her. beating the odds, Summer graduated on time as President of her High School class and went on to Dartmouth College where she continied to have a positive impacts on her classmates and club soccer team. Summer died in July of her Sophmore year. Her journey laid opened the fact that little progress in therapeutics had been realized for the less common childhood cancers. For Summer's cancer, Rhabdomyosarcoma, there had been no new therapeutics in over 40 years. The explanation for this lack of progress has been partly attributed to the classification of childhood cancer as a rare cancer, thus receiving only about 4% of the government budget for cancer research. These dismal facts prompted the creation of Summer's Way Foundation in effort to promote research funding in the private sector since government was failing.
Summer's journey also opened the eyes of its founders to the many unmet needs of families facing childhood cancer. It has been the mission of Summer's way to fill those gaps through its creative community programs.
Summer's mantra throughout her cancer journey was " Be Strong- Be Positive- Be Better". We at Summer's Way have carried this on as our guiding principle in all we do in childhood cancer.
Media gallery
Organization Data
CENTENNIAL, CO 80016