Team G Donates Over $89k To Childhood Cancer Research

Just over four years ago, a community came together to fight pediatric cancer for two local girls. One child named Gabriella and one named Tianna. Both fought a rare cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma. One survived. One didn’t. Since the devastating loss of Tianna and the success of Gabriella’s treatments, the two moms, along with many cancer moms they’ve met along the way, vowed to make a difference in the fight against childhood cancer and have worked tirelessly on fundraising events to raise awareness and funds for pediatric cancer research.

Since this past September, Team G has donated over $89,000 to childhood cancer research. The Bay Club raised an incredible $54,000 of this donation this past September during childhood cancer awareness month.

This adds up with our past donations to a grand total of over $188,000 since 2013 to partnering institutions from our beginning in 2013. Over 1,000 Hope Totes have been sent to institutions around the nation to newly diagnosed pediatric cancer families.

Last summer, cancer mom and founder Kristin Cosner was introduced to Gina Rodriguez through a Facebook group named Warrior Mama’s that some of the local Los Gatos cancer moms set up to give support, guidance and direction during their battle with childhood cancer.

Through our Warrior Mama’s group, Team G was connected with The Bay Club, a health club company that offers tennis, golf, and hospitality services located across the Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego and Carmel Valley. The Bay Club set out a spectacular fundraising effort during the month of September, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month coinciding with National Yoga Month. The funding is being donated in honor of two family patrons of The Bay Club; in honor of Gina’s daughter, 5 year old Sofia who is fighting leukemia and almost 7 year old Mary “Massy” Stewart, who is battling relapsed Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Why is research important? Currently, the National Cancer Institute dedicates less than 4% of its income to all 12 major types of pediatric cancer. Every day, 43 children are diagnosed with childhood cancer. Every day, seven children die from cancer in the United States. Treatments are antiquated and come with severe side effects for the children who survive.

Recent grants include the following:

• Immunotherapy at Lucile Packard $51,177: Kara Davis, DO, work involves developing immunotherapy clinical trials for children with leukemia. Immunotherapy enhances the body’s own immune cells to recognize and destroy tumors. Crystal Mackall, MD, Director for the Cancer Immunotherapy Program, whose therapies have shown great promise in treating and curing blood cancers. The first Stanford Institutional trials are set to begin in late summer or early fall.
• Rare Sarcoma Program at Lucile Packard $10,000: Dr. Sheri Spunt is leading a research program that will lead to better understand and find more effective treatments for rare pediatric sarcomas.
• Acute Myeloid Leukemia at Seattle Children’s Hospital – $14,000: Drs. Katherine Tarlock and Todd Cooper are working to deliver individualized, targeted therapy for children with acute myeloid leukemia. This donation is in honor of a local 7-year-old Los Gatos girl, Mary “Massy” Stewart.
• UCSC Treehouse Childhood Cancer Initiative $14,389: This “pan-cancer” analysis of adult and pediatric tumors may identify situations where an adult drug is predicted to work on a subset of pediatric patients.

Team G Childhood Cancer Foundation with a two-part mission. The first part is providing direct support to families fighting childhood cancer carried out through “Hope Totes” given to newly diagnosed cancer parents distributed through many regional childhood cancer centers across the nation. For more information visit www.teamgfoundation.org

The second part is raising funds for pediatric cancer research. Team G is partnering with some of the top pediatric cancer centers on the west coast including Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, Seattle Children’s Hospital, and UCSC Childhood Cancer Treehouse Project to support clinical trials and childhood cancer research to fund less toxic treatments and ultimately find a cure.

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For more information, please contact Kristin Cosner at kristincosner1@gmail.com or (831) 239-5061