Thank you to the ES PTA for welcoming me this evening to briefly talk about Alex's Sunnyside Playroom and our upcoming fundraiser the first weekend in October! September is Childhood Cancer Awareness and Blood Cancer Awareness month. Both were what our inspiration had. Not everyone that is diagnosed with a childhood cancer is a child. Leukemia has a 95% cure rate in children.

Here are some other startling statistics we are trying to address by providing a space for hope and respite from cancer treatments:

~In May 2017 AMA Journal of Ethics, a study entitled "Prioritizing Mental Health Research In Cancer Patients and Survivors" found:

*Among long-term cancer survivors, depression and anxiety most commonly diagnosed

psychological disorders.

*Clear evidence that depression is associated with poor adherence to medical therapies.

~The American Cancer Society study links social isolation with a higher risk of death from all causes combined and increased cancer mortality in white men and women. Addressing social isolation holds promise. (Kassandra I Alcaraz et al. Social Isolation and Mortality in US Black and White Men and Women. The American Journal of Epidemiology, 2018.)

~Lack of social support is associated with increased mental illness including depression (Gariepy, et al, 2016).

WHO DOES THIS IMPACT? CA:A Journal for Clinicians estimates 1,762,450 new cancer diagnoses in 2019. 606,880 Cancer deaths in 2019 in the United States.

WHAT CHILDREN ARE IMPACTED? 15.5 million survivors are in the US (Source: Stand Up 2 Cancer). 1.58 million US cancer survivors reside with minor children. 2.85 million minor children impacted