In 2010, a little girl named Grace celebrated her first birthday, and within a month of that milestone she was diagnosed with a rare form of pediatric cancer. She was suddenly fighting for her life, and her parents Anthony and Michelle were working around the clock and dedicating all their time to making sure their daughter was receiving the treatment she needed. They were so busy trying to fight her tumor they started to forget normal routine tasks such as paying their bills.
Anthony wondered how a family with a teenager fighting cancer could manage to do all of this and, on top of that, apply to college. With that thought, the National GRACE Foundation was born.
The National GRACE Foundation College Awareness Program was established to help guide young cancer fighters and their families through the process of applying for college and financial aid absolutely free. The program started as a way for the founders to give back to those who helped them when they were in need.
The foundation hosts an annual bike ride every year called RIde Against Cancer that raises money for their services, as well as Hasbro Children’s Hospital, The Tomorrow Fund, and the Isabel Helen Farnum scholarship which was established in 2012 and awards money to two students every year who battled cancer and are continuing on to college.
In spring of 2016, Anthony came to Team KSA in need of assistance. He was looking for help producing some collateral that flowed well and efficiently explained what The National GRACE Foundation is and what they do. He was simply trying to help people and spread the word, and our heroes hit the ground running on this project.
Since that first meeting, we have created various pieces of collateral for Anthony, with one of them being their stewardship brochure. This brochure helped explain the Isabel Helen Farnum Scholarship that helps significantly with the financial difficulties of sending a child with cancer to college.
Aside from this, we have also put together other brochures about this non-profit that make it easy to read through the essential facts and information about this great cause. These are used as handouts and at the conferences Anthony attends across the nation when he speaks to social workers from oncology hospitals who may want further information about GRACE’s services.
We are moving past collateral and spreading the word as the organization continues to grow. Anthony now has more to focus on, including grant writing, marketing, fundraising and event management; he continues to leverage KSA as things get more complex for him. KSA is beginning to take on an event management role as well as continuing to assist with marketing materials. In 2019, we are planning to assist Anthony in the management of the RIde Against Cancer, which is the organization’s major source of fundraising. There are also plans to help implement a new 5k Walk and Run to the ride so more families and others who are not comfortable with a bike ride can get involved.
The National GRACE Foundation works to raise money for a great cause, we are proud to support them and help them help kids with cancer. We look forward to continuing to grow our relationship and to being a part of the annual RIde Against Cancer coming this Fall!