I am a big fan of Fry’s (a Kroger store). I have lived in Arizona for over 11 years and have just grown to really love Fry’s – I do a majority of my shopping there.

But imagine my… shock? Dismay? Disgust?… the other day when I was checking out and turn to my right and see a Fry’s worker standing at a table scooping ice cream – surrounded by pink ribbons, pink signs, pink everything, with a sign that is for breast cancer awareness.

Apparently Kroger didn’t get the memo that October is breast cancer awareness month. We are still in September and

September is CHILDHOOD CANCER AWARENESS month

.

No offense to anyone but it is seriously disgusting to me how everyone is always pink pink pink for breast cancer awareness but no one does anything for the kids – for childhood cancer.

NFL – pink. Never gold for childhood cancer. Just pink.

Stores – pink. Never gold for childhood cancer. Just pink.

It is disheartening that our world forgets about the kids.

I have made it a personal mission – a personal goal – to bring much more awareness and action to this because it’s just not fair.

Every day, 42 children are diagnosed with cancer.

Would you pay more attention if one of those 42 children were your child?

12% of children diagnosed with cancer do not survive.

It breaks my heart to see kids dying at such a young age. Imagine if that was your child that didn’t survive…

Children’s cancer affects all ethnic, gender and socio-economic groups.

The average age of children diagnosed is six.

I have a 6 year old. What if it were him?

More than 40,000 children undergo treatment for cancer each year.

Did you know that the treatment they go through is treatment that was originally made for adults? Do you give you 6 year old adult dosing of Tylenol? No? Oh. Well then why should we give kids adult treatments for cancers?

In the last 20 years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved only two pediatric cancer drugs.

Childhood cancer only receives 4% of U.S. Federal Funding for cancer research.

That means that of the (at least) 16

main

types of childhood cancer (plus many subtypes), they only get 4% for all of them. That means that each of those main 16 types get one quarter of that 4% for research while all the other funding goes to adults.

60% of children who survive cancer suffer late-effects, such as infertility, heart failure and secondary cancers.

They have to live with it for the rest of their lives in one form or another.Just do me a favor, don’t forget the kids. The least you can do is give them their month and keep your pink until October.