Millions raised for childhood cancer research started with a cookie sale
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Cookies for Kids’ Cancer has granted more than $23 million to pediatric cancer research since 2008. It’s the largest private funder of COG’s Pediatric Early Phase-Clinical Trial Network. With supporters all over the country and around the world, the foundation backs research on better, less toxic ways to treat cancer. It all started with a little boy who inspires his parents every day to never give up on their dream of a world where all kids lead long, happy, cancer-free lives.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF COOKIES FOR KIDS CANCER
Liam Witt loved cooking so much, his mom would pack up his portable oven and other baking supplies for many of their trips to the hospital for cancer treatment.
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It was one of many ways she worked hard to keep her toddler’s day-to-day life as fun as possible as he went through treatment for neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer that develops in immature nerve cells.
Gretchen and Larry Witt smiled through their fears as they wondered if their firstborn would live to see his third birthday. When Liam’s doctors declared him cancer-free, the Witts felt so overjoyed with gratitude, they immediately started thinking about how they could give back. And how they could make it something fun and inviting — something that Liam would love.
As Public Relations Director for the home goods brand OXO, Gretchen had a lot of chefs and bakers in her network. As she bounced ideas off them, she started gravitating toward cookies — lots of them.
She had heard the average Girl Scout sells 100 boxes of cookies. If all 80 families she knew with kids in cancer treatment sold 100 boxes of a dozen cookies, that would be 96,000 cookies for kids’ cancer research.
Gretchen and Larry Witt smiled through their fears as they wondered if their firstborn would live to see his third birthday. When Liam’s doctors declared him cancer-free, the Witts felt so overjoyed with gratitude, they immediately started thinking about how they could give back. And how they could make it something fun and inviting — something that Liam would love.
As Public Relations Director for the home goods brand OXO, Gretchen had a lot of chefs and bakers in her network. As she bounced ideas off them, she started gravitating toward cookies — lots of them.
She had heard the average Girl Scout sells 100 boxes of cookies. If all 80 families she knew with kids in cancer treatment sold 100 boxes of a dozen cookies, that would be 96,000 cookies for kids’ cancer research.
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“I couldn’t find anybody who would tell me I couldn’t do it,” Gretchen said. But when she asked the owner of a high-end cookie company for tips on how to pull it off in time for the holidays, he said the plan was too ambitious and the timeline too tight.
“You can’t do this,” he insisted. “It’s not going to work.” “I don’t think you understand,” she replied. “I don’t have a choice. I’m doing this.” So, he converted the recipes Gretchen was planning to use for large-scale production and donated the dough for all 96,000 cookies. |
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From cookie sale to full-fledged foundation
That first cookie sale raised more than $420,000, about half from people who didn’t even order cookies.
“Most people said, ‘I don’t want the cookies. I just heard what you are doing and want to get involved,’” Gretchen recalled.
That’s when it hit her: Cookies were more than tasty treats. They were conversation starters, a way to get more people talking about kids and cancer and a vision for a world where no child dies because of it.
That first cookie sale raised more than $420,000, about half from people who didn’t even order cookies.
“Most people said, ‘I don’t want the cookies. I just heard what you are doing and want to get involved,’” Gretchen recalled.
That’s when it hit her: Cookies were more than tasty treats. They were conversation starters, a way to get more people talking about kids and cancer and a vision for a world where no child dies because of it.
Cookies for Kids Cancer founder, Gretchen Witt (center), with young supporters.
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Gretchen and her husband spent the next year laying the groundwork for a foundation, timing the launch for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September of 2008. That August, after a year of being in remission, Liam’s cancer came back. It was devastating, just like his first diagnosis. But he sailed through treatment the first time. He could do it again, so they forged ahead, determined and optimistic.
Cookies for Kids’ Cancer launched as planned. The first year flew by in a blur while Liam went through treatment a second time. By the second year, they made a big splash as the featured partner in a nationwide cause marketing campaign run by Glad, the maker of plastic bags and storage containers. |
Setting the stage to fund efficient, effective research
The Witts consulted National Cancer Institute (NCI) and other pediatric cancer leaders when setting up the foundation. Their advisors recommended three ways to fund research efficiently and effectively:
“We’re not in the room when they’re considering proposals,” Gretchen said. “We want them to feel free to have any discussion they want … and go with the strongest science.”
The Witts consulted National Cancer Institute (NCI) and other pediatric cancer leaders when setting up the foundation. Their advisors recommended three ways to fund research efficiently and effectively:
- Fund research on all types of pediatric cancers so researchers can make progress across a broad spectrum of diseases.
- Fund research at hospitals with the deepest bench of researchers and the strongest infrastructure, so investments can lead to therapies as quickly as possible.
- Set up an independent Medical Advisory Board that uses the same rigorous requirements as the NCI does to evaluate research proposals.
“We’re not in the room when they’re considering proposals,” Gretchen said. “We want them to feel free to have any discussion they want … and go with the strongest science.”
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Bridging the funding gap for early-stage clinical trials
One year, the foundation had more money to give away than projects to fund, so they consulted the Medical Advisory Board. They recommended supporting early-phase clinical research, which can be hard to get off the ground because major funders are often reluctant to invest in research that scientists are just beginning to explore. “Science doesn’t move forward with good wishes and prayers,” she said. “Science needs funding. And we know how hard it is for that initial translational research to get funding. We want to break down the barriers to ensure that hospitals have the support they need to recruit kids to take part in clinical trials.” |
To date, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer has donated nearly $3.8 million to early-phase COG clinical trials. No other philanthropic funder has made more significant and consistent contributions to this critical body of research.
“The vast majority of hospitals have no idea we’re doing this, because it comes after the fact,” Gretchen said.
Giving more kids better odds for long, healthy lives
In all, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer-funded research has led to 60 new treatments for childhood cancers, including three of seven treatments designed primarily and specifically for children. The first study that first cookie sale helped to fund — a year before the foundation launched — led to a major breakthrough in treating children with relapsed neuroblastoma.
In 2011, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where Liam was treated, launched an early-phase trial testing the safest and most effective dose of a promising novel treatment for high-risk neuroblastoma. If Liam had lived seven months longer, he could have participated in that trial and the Witts wouldn’t have had to hear the words, “We’re so sorry. There’s nothing more we can do.”
Some people ask the Witts why they continue running the foundation all these years since Liam’s passing.
“We do it because it’s what Liam would want,” Gretchen said. “We know when we see him again, he’s going to ask, ‘Mommy, Daddy, did you make things better for others?’ We need to be able to say we did everything we could.”
“The vast majority of hospitals have no idea we’re doing this, because it comes after the fact,” Gretchen said.
Giving more kids better odds for long, healthy lives
In all, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer-funded research has led to 60 new treatments for childhood cancers, including three of seven treatments designed primarily and specifically for children. The first study that first cookie sale helped to fund — a year before the foundation launched — led to a major breakthrough in treating children with relapsed neuroblastoma.
In 2011, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where Liam was treated, launched an early-phase trial testing the safest and most effective dose of a promising novel treatment for high-risk neuroblastoma. If Liam had lived seven months longer, he could have participated in that trial and the Witts wouldn’t have had to hear the words, “We’re so sorry. There’s nothing more we can do.”
Some people ask the Witts why they continue running the foundation all these years since Liam’s passing.
“We do it because it’s what Liam would want,” Gretchen said. “We know when we see him again, he’s going to ask, ‘Mommy, Daddy, did you make things better for others?’ We need to be able to say we did everything we could.”