L-R: Dr. Sherlita Amler, Westchester Health Commissioner; NY State Senator Shelley Mayer; Nancy E. Barr, County Legislator; Stephanie Mittman, Pediatric Cancer Foundation; Pamela Strauss Peligri, Pediatric Cancer Foundation; Catherine Parker, County Legislator; County Executive George Latimer
Westchester County Executive George Latimer, together with State Senator Shelley Mayer and County Legislators Nancy E. Barr and Catherine Parker, dedicated September 14 as Pediatric Cancer Foundation Day as September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Pediatric cancer is the leading cause of non-accidental deaths in children. Latimer said the day will be dedicated to the children and families who are battling or have battled pediatric cancer, and the tireless work that is being done to eradicate pediatric cancer.
In advance of the County naming September 14 Pediatric Cancer Foundation Day in Westchester, local leaders gathered on Tuesday, September 12 in early recognition of the day.
The Pediatric Cancer Foundation (PCF) is a Mamaroneck-based nonprofit that has been on the front lines in the fight against pediatric cancer for 53 years. During that timeframe, PCF has distributed more than $20M to doctors and researchers, while also helping to increase the childhood cancer survival rate from 58% in 1970, to over 80% today.
Latimer said: “We owe a great deal to organizations like Pediatric Cancer Foundation and their indefatigable efforts over five plus decades to measurably increase the rate of childhood cancer survival. Those are real lives saved. Real lives lived. No family, and especially no child, should be sentenced to endure the despair of cancer. As a community it’s vital to remember that change and hope is possible, and we must do what we can to raise awareness of those fighting locally on behalf of children and babes not even yet born, so that one day we will have a cure or be one step closer. I’m a father and now a grandfather, and I know too well every step counts.”
In addition to the County naming September 14 as Pediatric Cancer Foundation Day, the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge will be lit gold that evening in recognition of PCF and Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Pediatric Cancer Foundation President, Pamela Strauss Peligri: “Westchester has been the right conduit and catalyst for our organization to sustain and grow its impact for over 53 years. This September is an opportunity for community members to be exposed to a sampling of the hope that PCF has carried forward throughout our mission. One that embraces a future without pediatric cancer. We are deeply appreciative of County Executive Latimer, Legislator Barr and Parker, State Senator Mayer and their teams for creating this promise of hope in ‘914’ on 9/14, a date we will always remember. And an area code that represents to us, and many others, a community as rich with love as it is blessed with the resources to make change happen in this world.”
About Pediatric Cancer Foundation
PCF (www.pcfcares.org) has been on the cutting edge in the field of pediatric cancer research since founded in 1970. Their mission is to find a cure for childhood cancer and support research, treatment, state of the art equipment and patient/parent care for world renowned doctors and hospitals. Notably, their programs operate within a well-planned development framework, with the conviction that they look to identify important initiatives and the best research to eradicate childhood cancer.
Understanding that no child or family should have to suffer the horror or pain of pediatric cancer, PCF is committed to supporting efforts which demonstrate the greatest potential of childhood cancer research /treatment led by recognized experts who demonstrate unique talents, interests and research development toward the cure or treatment of childhood cancers – and have worked to increase childhood cancer survival rates by 22% since 1970 – while also distributing more than $20M to doctors and researchers.
The partners that PCF and its programs work to support, include:
New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center; Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; Stephen D. Hassenfeld Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at NYU Langone Medical Center; Feinstein Institute of Medical Research/Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York, Northwell Health; Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center; Comer Children’s Hospital, The University of Chicago Medicine & Biological Sciences; The Tisch Cancer Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Health Systems; The Ohio State University College of Medicine/ The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital; Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; and Johns Hopkins University.
To learn more about PCF or how community members can play a role in helping to advance important pediatric cancer research efforts, please call PCF Director, Nancy Joselson at 914-777-3127 or visit pcfcares.org.
