CURE Childhood Cancer has launched its annual CURE Flags campaign to raise funds and awareness for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September.
The decorative banners, featuring the gold awareness ribbon and the message “no child fights alone,” can decorate homes and businesses, mailboxes, lawns, gardens, and anywhere else they can spread a message of hope.
CURE provides financial and emotional support to local children and families while raising funds to further critical research specifically for childhood cancer treatments.
“We have had a great response during the pre-sale period because our neighborhood captains who are helping to promote them have done such an amazing job,” said Mandy Garola, Vice President of CURE in South Georgia. “Their enthusiasm is inspiring. Our goal is to sell 4,000 flags this year, and I think we’re going to surpass that number.”
A sign of the overwhelming support in our local area, the number of our flag sales is almost equal to the Atlanta area, which has a much larger population.
At one point in the pre-sale period, 1,800 flags sold in 24 hours.
One reason for these accomplishments is Sheri Neidlinger, one of the neighborhood captains driving sales of CURE Flags. She and her husband Richard have been supporters of CURE Childhood Cancer for nearly a decade.
Through their family businesses, they have been corporate sponsors of Catie’s Gathering events, which benefit Catie's Fund at CURE. Individually, Sheri has hosted tables at the events and worked as a neighborhood captain previously.
In a tragic coincidence, a week before the CURE Flags went on sale, Sheri’s grandson became ill with a childhood cancer. Immediately, she felt the love and support CURE offers patients and families as the boy’s pediatric oncology treatment program began.
“Being in the boat is a whole new perspective,” Neidlinger said.
“As I sit here and eat my lunch that CURE delivered, I’m humbled and proud that we have supported an organization that fed, educated, and spoiled my sweet boy all in one day. I never thought that our family would be one of the families that CURE helped. We will now work even harder with them,” she added.
“Sheri Neidlinger and her family have been such wonderful supporters of CURE, and now we’ll be there to support her grandson and her family as they face this,” Garola said. “The fundraising for research is critical, and serving patients and families is another way this organization helps. That’s when the motto on the flag, ‘no child fights alone,’ really comes to life.”
CURE Flags are available for online purchase here.
