Candlelighters – Childhood Cancer Family Alliance

Family Support & Services Family Support

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OUR MISSION

Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Family Alliance provides emotional, educational and practical support to families of children with cancer.

Margarita Taste Off

100000

94715

Donate

Fun Walk

250000

970

Donate

Adopt A Family

15000

822

Donate

Hospital Parking Fund

20000

1500

Donate

School Initiative

3000

1

Donate

Lights of Courage

450000

25000

Donate

Break a Clay for Candlelighters

90000

17215

Donate

Thanks to you, in 2022 we raised more than $1.6 million dollars! Last year your support provided:

Families Served 4,673

Hours of Support 7,893

Parking Validations 7,333

Family Members Adopted 1,477

UPCOMING EVENTS

31 Mar 2023
Friday 3:00 PM-8:00 PM
Crawfish Boil & Concert Hosted by Young Professionals in Energy
YPE & Candlelighters Crawfish Boil & Concert, benefitting Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Family Alliance Join us at Goode Co.’s Armadillo Palace…
15 Apr 2023
Saturday 1:00 PM-5:30 PM
Margarita Taste Off
Hosted by Candlelighters Young Professionals | Presented by Don Julio | Guests sip, sample and vote for their favorite margaritas!
21 Apr 2023
Friday 6:00 PM-10:00 PM
Candlelighters Night at Constellation Field | Sugar Land Space Cowboys
Candlelighters families are invited to join us for Candlelighters night at Constellation Field to see the Sugar Land Space Cowboys!

✨ It’s National Social Workers Day! ✨ This

✨ It’s National Social Workers Day! ✨

This day recognizes the hard work and dedication of Social Workers and is commemorated to celebrate and promote their contributions working for society. We want to give a special shoutout to the AMAZING hospital Social Workers who serve childhood cancer families right here in Houston! 🫶

Social workers help families locate community resources, assist in crisis interventions, provide counseling, educate families on their child's diagnosis, advocate for patients, and respond to the unique needs of each of their families. Hundreds of medical groups, information centers, support groups, nonprofit agencies, home care services, specialty schools, and federal, state, and city programs are available to assist families in need - and these Social Workers are the ones who organize that information and provide those connections to families on a daily basis. Social Workers are instrumental in helping families find the resources they need and connecting families to those resources. 🎗

To our Social Work friends at Texas Children’s Hospital Medical Center, West Campus and Woodlands Campus; MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital; and Children’s Memorial Hermann -- THANK YOU!! We see your hard work and the impact you have on childhood cancer families 💛 and hope you enjoyed your treat deliveries today!

Today we are highlighting another Child Life Speci

Today we are highlighting another Child Life Specialist with partner Texas Children's Hospital! Take a moment to read more about today's spotlighted Child Life Specialist, Mashal Kara:

"My name is Mashal Kara and I am a Certified Child Life Specialist at Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) Main Campus. I work in the Cancer & Hematology outpatient clinic and I have the honor of serving patients diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma, and histiocytosis and their families. In my free time, I love to be with my family, friends, and my dog Bella, and I enjoy being outdoors.

My non-traditional journey to becoming a Child Life Specialist involved a few turns! After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor’s in Human Development and Family Sciences, I joined Teach for America as a teacher. Since I was interested in medical school at that time, I volunteered at a children’s hospital and stumbled upon the Child Life profession. Being a Child Life volunteer fueled my passion to work with pediatric patients and families, and I quickly realized that this was a dream of mine. I traveled to Cape Town, South Africa for my Child Life practicum and completed my Child Life internship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. My education journey ended with graduating from Texas Woman’s University with a Master’s in Child Life. I received the wonderful opportunity to learn from amazing Child Life professionals and I credit all my supporters and mentors for my current work. Fast forward to today, I am feeling thankful to work with such wonderful patients, families, and staff at TCH!

Child Life Specialists help patients and families cope with their medical experience by using evidenced-based interventions that include preparation, education, distraction, and play. They strive to decrease anxiety and fear and support typical development and growth. Working alongside wonderful Child Life Specialists has helped me realize the true power behind this work.

I am deeply grateful to be part of this incredible work and excited to share that March is Child Life Month! Please be sure to tell your child life professionals happy Child Life Month!"

With your help and because of your generosity, Can

With your help and because of your generosity, Candlelighters continues to help families like Christian's with parking assistance. 💛 THANK YOU! 💛 Parking is $19 per day while Candlelighters families are there receiving treatment - they already have so much to worry about - consider make a $19 donation today to cover a family's parking expense. 🎗

"The parking garage can be quite intense. There are no exceptions. Once, I accidentally left my wallet with my son while he was waiting for me to get the car. He had just woken up from the anesthesia, and it was the first time I got the car without him. After realizing I didn't have anything to pay the garage with, I called for an attendant and they invoiced me. It's ruthless. Thankfully, Candlelighters steps in to help pay and relieve parents of this cost. Whether I have my wallet on me or not, the parking passes they provide give a sense of comfort and relief. Now that the rates have increased from $15 to $19, it really helps our ongoing financial worries."
- Marisa Garcia, Candlelighters Mom

🦞🌽🥔 We have partnered with the Young Prof

🦞🌽🥔 We have partnered with the Young Professionals in Energy - Houston for a fun Crawfish Boil and Concert featuring @jasonbolandandthestragglers!!

🎗 Join us on Friday, March 31st, at Goode Company @armadillopalace from 3PM to 8PM! Crawfish, cold beer, and amazing music are guaranteed to make this an event you won’t want to miss. Proceeds will benefit Candlelighters and childhood cancer families right here in Houston!

🎉 Get $10 off your tickets by using code: CANDLE

🎟 Visit Event Brite to grab your tickets today: http://tiny.cc/ypecrawfish23

Thank you to our generous friends at Kiewit for ho

Thank you to our generous friends at Kiewit for hosting a toy and gift card drive for Candlelighters! DID YOU KNOW that your toy and gift card donations help us YEAR ROUND?! Well, they do! Toys and gift cards ensure that Candlelighters is able to provide a bit of happiness to childhood cancer patients and siblings all year long! From parties like our Summer Surprises bash, to Adopt-A-Family gifts, to any-time special requests, Candlelighters can never have enough toys!

If your company, community group, or school would like to host a Toy & Gift Card drive to benefit children with cancer and their siblings, give us a shout!

🪅🎉 We are ONE MONTH AWAY from one of our mos

🪅🎉 We are ONE MONTH AWAY from one of our most FUN fundraising events! 🍹💃 We can’t wait to see you at our 15th Annual Margarita Taste Off, on Saturday, April 15th, at Kirby Ice House Memorial, where YOU will decide who makes Houston’s BEST Margarita!

Thanks to Presenting Sponsor, Don Julio Tequila, the following restaurants will have a top-quality ‘equalizer’ for judging! This year's lineup includes the following Houston area restaurants:

Ambriza Social Mexican Kitchen
Chuy's Tex-Mex
Cilantro's Cocina
Daily Gather
Dish Society
Eight Row Flint
El Tiempo Cantina
Federal American Grill
Field & Tides
Guard and Grace
Harold’s Restaurant, Bar & Terrace
Johnny McElroy's Irish Pub & Patio
KICPOPS
Kin Dee
Los Tios Mexican Restaurant
SIPPLE * Non-Alcoholic Bottle Shop *
State Fare Kitchen & Bar
Studewood Cantine
Texas Tamale Company

If you don’t have your admission or sponsorship to our 15th Annual Margarita Taste Off yet, you can grab those TOADY! You DO NOT want to miss out! Entry includes margarita samples and bites from EACH participating restaurant, as well as wine samples and beer from our local brewery sponsors. Attendees and celebrity judges will vote for their favorite margaritas and at the end of the event, the winner will be crowned! 🏆

👩‍🎓👨‍🎓 LAST CALL!! CALLING ALL SEN

👩‍🎓👨‍🎓 LAST CALL!! CALLING ALL SENIORS!! 👩‍🎓👨‍🎓

Calling all Class of 2023 Seniors!! Candlelighters wants to celebrate YOU!

If you are a registered Candlelighters family and have a graduating senior this year (patient, survivor, or sibling!) please email our Family Development Coordinator, Opal Goodman, at ogoodman@candle.org with the following information:

✨ Senior's Name
✨ Name of Senior's High School or College
✨ Plans for Next Year
✨ Senior's Achievements and/or Accomplishments you would like to celebrate
✨ Current mailing address

This year, we will be doing Senior Spotlights social media shoutouts and featuring senior photos in our Newsletter -- AND, EXCITINGLY, we're working on ONE MORE SURPRISE!! 💛 Submit your senior TODAY to get on the list! 🥳

We are so excited to introduce this year’s Light

We are so excited to introduce this year’s Lights of Courage Event Chairs, Board President Katie Stanton and Maggie Vermillion! ✨ Both have supported Candlelighters and our childhood cancer families for over a decade and have been dear friends for even longer, since their childhood grade school days!

Stay tuned for more details on this year’s exciting fundraiser! You will not want to miss out 🎗️

🎗 LAST CALL!! ⚠️LINK IN BIO!⚠️ HELP US

🎗 LAST CALL!! ⚠️LINK IN BIO!⚠️ HELP US HONOR CANCER SURVIVORS! Shop our Amazon Wish List to help us fill our Bell Ringing In A Box party kits for childhood cancer patients ringing the ceremonial end-of-treatment bell! 🛎

If you are able to help celebrate our tiny-but-mighty childhood cancer survivors, you can support in one of the following ways:
1️⃣ Purchase an item from our Bell Ringing In A Box Amazon Wishlist: http://tiny.cc/bellringing
2️⃣ SHARE THIS POST to help us spread the word!
3️⃣ Make a Monetary Donation to this Bell Ringing program: http://tiny.cc/giveprograms

Each kit will include:
🎗 Custom Name Yard Sign
🛎 Gold bell for the survivor to ring, signifying the end of treatment
✨ SURVIVOR framed certificate
💛 $25 H-E-B Gift Card to purchase a celebration cake!
🎗 Gold party decorations & balloons
🛎 CONGRATULATIONS sign!
✨ Confetti wands!
💛 Miniature party favor bells - so those in attendance can keep a memento from this celebration!
🎗 and more!!

Donations in any/all of these forms are tax-deductible and will go DIRECTLY to serving childhood cancer families! We can't wait to share more photos of families once after they receive their Bell Ringing celebration kits! 🥳🎗🛎💛

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LATEST NEWS

Candlelighters supports childhood cancer families in our continuing mission.

Newsletter Vol. 25 Spring 2019
June 13, 2019 admin Uncategorized

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