Elephants and Tea - September 2019 - 32

Conversation

CHILDHOOD CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

More than 175 nonprofits, corporations, and
individuals from 36 states and five countries,
supporting and serving the childhood cancer
community have joined CAC2 since its founding, and membership continues to grow as word
spreads about the collaboration's impact, ongoing programs, and unique projects that support
the childhood cancer community. Our mission
is to foster and sustain greater levels of coordinated action, information exchange, learning
and broad-based collaboration through agreed
upon initiatives in four broad areas: Research &
Treatment, Family Support & Survivorship and
Awareness & Advocacy Support. Membership is
open to childhood cancer foundations, individual
advocates, students and for-profit organizations
that want to support our community, and we welcome anyone who is reading this to join: members.
cac2.org. Together, through creative collaboration
and amplification of our members' passion and
strengths, we can work towards a world without childhood cancers.
Since 2011, CAC2 and its predecessors have worked to enhance the
strengths and expertise of its members and to minimize groups' duplication of members' activities. Some members collaborate to fund
research in an effort to speed progress by shortening review cycles,
reducing burdens for investigator applicants, and increasing the scale
of projects. To support families, CAC2 built and maintains the Hope
Portal, in partnership with the Association of Pediatric Oncology Social
Workers, Association of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Nurses
and KBI Biopharma. This searchable online tool allows families in any
location to find financial, material and psychosocial support from a
single source. CAC2 also conducts grassroots, social media campaigns
to draw attention to a variety of childhood cancer-specific issues. It
coordinates with the Alliance for Childhood Cancer and other groups
to elevate childhood cancer as a national priority, to promote participation in Action Days, to support bills in Congress and other federal

initiatives, and to raise awareness across the country and around the
world. We also host a project incubator that allows us to identify, shape,
endorse, and implement collaborative projects.
The weekend of Erin's funeral, our Congressman Chet Edwards
asked my husband and me if we planned to launch a foundation in Erin's memory, and that if we did, he would be a proud supporter. Many
of our broken-hearted friends made the same pledge. We had already
decided against such a move, based on Erin's earlier assessment of the
childhood cancer landscape. Several years before, she had asked me
which foundation was the best. I told her that they were all doing great
work and that one didn't stand out above all the others. She said, "Then
we should support them all," and proceeded to hold lemonade stands,
play in kickball tournaments, run in races and join in anything else that
was a signature event of a childhood cancer foundation. And in that
spirit, CAC2 exists in recognition that our community's foundations
are doing great work, and we should support them all.

V IC K I E BU E NGE R GR E W U P I N VA R IOUS SM A L L TOW NS I N T E X A S , I NC LU DI NG C OL L E GE S TAT ION A N D A LV I N.
SH E SE RV E S A S C L I N IC A L PROF E S S OR AT T H E M AYS BUSI N E S S S C HO OL W I T H A JOI N T A PP OI N T M E N T TO T H E
PROF E S SIONA L PRO GR A M FOR BIOT E C H NOL O GY AT T E X A S A& M U N I V E R SI T Y. SH E T E AC H E S C OM PE T I T I V E A N D
C O OPE R AT I V E BUSI N E S S S T R AT E GY A N D PROJ E C T M A NAGE M E N T.

Vickie's daughter, Erin, fought neuroblastoma for seven years. Since Erin's death in 2009, Vickie has devoted time and energy to launching the Coalition Against
Childhood Cancer (CAC2) on behalf of the many dedicated organizations and individuals striving to make a difference for children with cancer. She currently
serves as President of CAC2.
Vickie combines her academic background with her interest in the science and policy of childhood cancer and has spoken before gatherings of scientists,
clinicians, regulators, industry representatives and advocates in the United States and Europe. She also serves as the Board Chair of the Hospice Brazos Valley
Living Endowment and on the Executive Committee of the Brazos County Democratic Party. She volunteers as an ordained Elder in the Presbyterian Church-USA.
She and her amazing husband, Walter, enjoy co-teaching the Loose Leaf Bible Study Adult Education class.
They have one son, Davis, who is a theoretical mathematician and senior data scientist at Chase in Columbus, Ohio. Vickie and her mother, Madge Luquette,
are the founding and only members of the Cypress Road Mother/Daughter Book Club. For fun, Vickie crafts beaded jewelry and lanyards, plays trombone, does
counted cross-stitch, hits the hiking trails and kayak waterways whenever possible and hangs out with her friends and her disobedient dogs, Willie and Teddy.

ELEPHANTSANDTEA.COM
SEPTEMBER 2019

http://www.cac2.org http://www.elephantsandtea.com

Elephants and Tea - September 2019

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