Dear CBTF family member,
One of the primary goals of the Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation (CBTF) is the creation of a peer and professional support community. We make this happen in a multitude of ways, but one of the most special is when we can be in the same room, cabin, and even the bus. In addition to the medical risk of COVID-19, the current environment can dramatically increase anxiety, depression, and social isolation. So, the decision we had to make the past couple of weeks was extremely difficult.
Currently, the overall health of the community is our primary concern. Due to growing COVID-19 concerns and uncertainty, we have made the difficult determination to cancel all in person CBTF gatherings through September 1, 2020. This includes the Heads Up Conference. We are working with Camp-Mak-A-Dream to create the first virtual HUC. We cannot risk the health of the community or staff, especially when it involves travel.
CBTF will continue to build and support brain tumor families throughout their brain tumor journey. We are moving all of our programs to a virtual community. We will be creating many unique online programs and expand our already on-going chats for parents (bereaved, parents of younger children and parents of older survivors, parents of newly diagnosed), teen and young adult survivors, survivors in college and siblings.
In the meantime, we will be closely monitoring the facts around COVID-19 and will be making decisions based on this. We feel it is essential to stay as much ahead of the coronavirus as possible and want to make sure we are doing our part to flatten the curve and create a safe environment.
The CBTF family has become my family. Our community is strong and has already faced a multitude of challenges. Most members did not choose to be part of this family, but now that you are here, you are family forever.
We have been able to support novel brain tumor research in seeking a cure for brain and spinal cord tumors for over 31 years. Through the generosity of many of you and our fundraising events, we have also become the nation’s leader in programs for families impacted by a brain tumor. If you have provided financial support in the past, we hope you will kindly consider recommitting. Becoming a monthly donor “Tumor Terminator” at any monthly donation level will allow us to keep our programs going and enable us to reach more families impacted by a childhood brain tumor. Every gift moves us closer to a cure and allows us to reach the goal of “no family alone.” Click here to show your support CBTF SUPPORTER.
This is a challenging time for all of us, but we can get through it together. As survivor Mikayla said- “Together we make a better team.” Please let us know if there is a family who has been impacted by a brain or spinal cord tumor and needs support.
With gratitude and much appreciation,
Stacia Wagner
President