Success Story

Nothing pulls a community together more quickly than when a child gets sick. When 17-year-old William Olson relapsed with brain cancer after an 18-month remission, a group of moms began to meet in the Olsons' driveway to pray for the family as they faced this tough battle. Dean Crowe, Founder and CEO of Children's Cancer Research and Family Assistance Foundation ("Rally"), was one of those moms. Realizing that more still needed to be done, Dean asked William's mom, Nancy, "What more can I do to help?" Nancy knew that Dean's inquiry was serious, so she asked her to raise funds to support the best childhood cancer research nationwide. Nancy shared with Dean that parents with children suffering from cancer want better treatments with fewer long-term side-effects and, ultimately, cures. She explained that childhood cancer is different than adult cancer and should be researched and treated differently. Finally, she explained the need for more funding of childhood cancer research.Dean set out to help Nancy and learned that less than 4% of federal cancer research funding is directed toward childhood cancer research. However, she wasn't discouraged. She felt strongly that if people knew there was a need for funding, they would help. After much prayer, the Children's Cancer Research and Family Assistance Foundation ("Rally") was born in 2005 with one mission, to empower volunteers across the country to raise awareness and funds for childhood cancer research to fund better treatments with fewer long-term side effects and, ultimately, cures. Since its inception, Rally has given away $9 million in childhood cancer research grants to over 217 projects nationwide.