Gifts for a good cause

Under the motto “Gifting and Donating”, a campaign to support Juno Children’s Cancer Aid Foundation has been initiated by Joyset. Stuffed animals can be bought in their online shop, which will then be given away to children with cancer. You can choose between a cute sheep and a cuddly bunny, €12.90 and €14.90 each (no shipping costs). The entire proceeds from the campaign will be donated to Stiftung Juno.

 

We would like to say a heartfelt thank you to the team at Joyset, who have started a Christmas campaign in our favor once again.

 

Responding to childrens’ questions about cancer: a communications training for clinical staff

Dr Sarah Herlofsen, author of children’s books and member of our board of trustees, has made it her heart’s desire to support children and families affected by cancer.

 

She passed on her experiences to us as part of a communications training course aimed at nursing staff and other clinic employees who have direct patient contact. Under the title “Talking about cancer with children using images”, her lecture offers approaches to address children’s questions in an objective, informative and easily understandable way. It provides child-friendly explanations of what actually happens to the body in the event of cancer and how therapies can help. Even difficult topics such as fears, feelings of guilt and dying are not left out. She works with images to communicate at child level and to encourage little ones to talk about the disease.

 

Her audience – today she speaks in the seminar room of the University Hospital in Mainz – works with children who suffer from cancer and their families. They provide not only nursing and medical care, but accompany the families also in socio-pedagogical, psychological, therapeutic and other ways. Regardless of the years of experience, everyone nods their heads in agreement with what is said, and the room becomes very quiet. Personal dialogues with the little patients and parents are buzzing around in their heads. The lecture is concluded with a Q&A and discussion, which shows that the communication coaching offers new impetus for working with the children. And the certainty that not all children’s questions have to be answered by adults. But we can support the children to find their own answers.

 

You can read more about this topic in the book “Wie ist das mit dem Krebs?” by Dr. Sarah Herlofsen, published by Gabriel Verlag.

“Today I feel strong!” – A day in sports therapy

It’s 9 a.m. and the first little patient is eagerly awaiting his sports lesson. We are in pediatric oncology, the two sports therapists have compiled the schedule for today’s patients and checked with the medical team that all children are fit to exercise today.

Off we go to the ward’s sports room. It is equipped with large and small sports equipment and accessories in bright colors. A bicycle is there for warm-ups, and 6-year-old Leo rides it for seven minutes because, so he says:

“Today I feel strong!”

Then he helps sports therapist Lena, with whom he has built up a relationship of trust, set up an exercise course across the sports room. There is a bit of everything: Balancing, climbing over soft building blocks, and a toss into the basketball hoop. The drip stand keeps moving along next to him, but Leo doesn’t let that distract him. Especially during slalom football training, he is completely focused on himself, and everything else literally falls away from him. All the hardships of recent times. Also the disappointment that he couldn’t watch his favorite team’s football game at the stadium because he wasn’t feeling well – even though it was his birthday present. He bravely states: “It’s ok because at least my brother was able to go in my place”. He misses his brother a lot, as well as his twin sister and his younger sister.

Finally, Leo asks Lena for a football match between small fold-up goals, and he easily defeats her. Exhausted but satisfied, he and his mother make their way back to their room on the ward.

The sports lesson is a most welcome change in everyday hospital life. It is designed to be fun for the children and motivate them to exercise regularly. Sports can give them an energy boost, especially after taking certain medications, when they are tired or in a bad mood. Even if the children store water, for example, and exercise is difficult but important, the sports therapists can motivate them to participate in playful activities. This is even possible in their room, should the way to the sports room not be possible.

The day takes its course. Altogether, four children receive their sports therapy today. The offer, which is in part financed by donations, is aimed at both inpatients and those who come to the clinic for an outpatient appointment. A big thank you for letting us participate in today’s sessions!

 

*Names have been changed by the editors.

 

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

During Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, we’re raising awareness for better, safer treatments for kids fighting cancer. It is a time to celebrate advances in childhood cancer treatment and survivorship care, and to remember the children we’ve lost.

Survivorship has been a core pillar of Stiftung Juno Kinderkrebshilfe‘s mission. The chances of cure have improved considerably in recent years as a result of intensive research and now stand at over 80 percent. However, this positive rate also shows that there remains work to be done.

Approximately 95 percent of adult childhood cancer survivors suffer from at least one long-term late effect as a result of their cancer or its therapy. And, across Europe, approximately 35,000 children and adolescents under the age of 18 are newly diagnosed with cancer each year. In order to give every child a chance to beat cancer, further research projects as well as collaborations between hospitals and research institutions are necessary.

And that is where we come in. Join Stiftung Juno Kinderkrebshilfe as an advocate in our mission of achieving a day when every child with cancer can live a long and healthy life. What contribution would you like to make this September? Here we’ll give you some ideas – or get in touch with us to discuss your individual contribution. Gold is the color around the CCAM – let’s go gold!

 

* Share the posts and messages on social media provided by Juno Children’s Cancer Aid Foundation

* Use social media covers for the month of September

* Encourage local schools to go gold by selling gold ribbons, hosting a Go Gold cake sale, or selling Go Gold merchandise

* Encourage local communities to go Gold by walking down your local high street with posters to use on shop windows etc, getting train stations to go Gold and local landmarks to go Gold

* Host a gold-themed coffee chat

* Encourage local advocates to get involved and participate in campaigns

 

We appreciate your commitment and your donations to the Juno Children’s Cancer Aid Foundation.

Spotlight on… Sarah Herlofsen

Stem cell researcher, children’s book author and mother of four – and now Dr. Sarah Roxana Herlofsen is also a member of the Board of Trustees at Stiftung Juno Children’s Cancer Aid Foundation. Here, she shares her touching story with us. It is clear that she must have superpowers. We are pleased that she also uses them for our foundation!

It’s safe to say that I have three great passions in my life. Children, Books and Biology. It was already clear to me after graduating from high school that I wanted to work with these three topics. My authorship goes back to my childhood. Writing was my absolute passion in elementary school and my first story was published in the Kölner Stadtanzeiger when I was in third grade. Ever since the day I could read my own words in the newspaper, I’ve dreamed of one day writing my own book.

My interest in biology and medicine arose very early on and I thought about becoming a doctor for a long time. But the idea of ​​not being able to help everyone and of losing people scared me because such fates affect me emotionally. I chose to become a biology and philosophy teacher so that I could explain the big and small mysteries of life to children. But already after the second semester, a case of cancer in the family changed my career for the first time. My grandmother got sick and the diagnosis of metastatic colon cancer had a very bad prognosis at the time. I clearly remember her being offered a revolutionary therapy. She was able to take part in a clinical study in which researchers tried to develop antibodies against the cancer cells so that they could be found and disposed of by the body. This was the beginning of personalized cancer therapy and an incredibly brave and spectacular thought at the time.

As a fresh biology student, I was enthusiastic about this brilliant idea and now I didn’t just want to convey knowledge, I wanted to create knowledge myself and switched to molecular biomedicine. Here I wanted to develop new medicines, achieve breakthroughs in clinical research and thereby save lives.

Many years in the lab followed and my specialty became clinical stem cell research. In 2013, I did my PhD at the National Hospital in Oslo, Norway. And again, a case of cancer in the family should steer my life in a new direction.

This time, my grandfather was diagnosed with incurable bladder cancer. I was very pregnant with my third child, in the middle of the last phase of my doctoral period and could no longer travel to Germany. The time was very dark and cloudy and I was afraid that he would never meet my unborn daughter. My other children were quite young and I started drawing pictures for them and writing little stories about cancer cells to explain why I was so sad. This open communication was incredibly valuable. Not only for my children, but also for myself. It was a great relief that I didn’t have to pretend, but was able to tell honestly what moved me. And the fact that the children knew that they could always talk to me and get honest answers made the illness less scary for them. That’s when I got the idea for my children’s book.

The book should be suitable for all children, regardless of diagnosis, treatment and patient. I wanted to use what I had learned to answer the questions of all children, whether they have a mother with breast cancer, or a grandfather with colon cancer, or maybe they have leukemia themselves. So this is where my commitment to children and cancer began.

Over the next few years I traveled a lot, visited children’s cancer wards and children as relatives, collected questions and testimonials, met with psychologists and doctors, cancer survivors and people who lost loved ones to cancer. More and more this book became my new baby and the subject of cancer became near to my heart.

I will never forget my first visit to the children’s cancer ward, when I was approached by a small patient who had just completed radiation treatment. This small, vulnerable, refined body. The smooth head and the skin reddened by the radiation. His mother, tired, exhausted, broken yet smiling desperately and whispering words of encouragement. I had just given birth to my third healthy child and could hardly stand the pain. That was probably the day I decided that I wanted to use my life to help these families with any means at my disposal.

In 2016, my first cancer book was published in Norway, and in 2019, my German book “Wie ist das mit dem Krebs”. It has now been translated into many languages ​​and it still brings tears to my eyes to think of how many thousands of children around the world have read these books. The fact that the German Cancer Aid filmed my book and that we now have our own children’s site with free cartoons for all children who want to know what cancer is, was also a small dream that came true.

I am currently working on a picture book for smaller children, which will be published in Germany next year. And because these little people and their destinies are so dear to my heart, I am indescribably happy that I was given the opportunity to make my contribution here at the Juno children’s cancer charity. I hope that through my work for the foundation I can give a little hope, comfort, joy and help to these children and their families. I can’t wait to be on this journey.

Juno supports scientific study on exercise therapy in childhood cancer patients

Juno supports scientific study on exercise therapy in childhood cancer patients

Responsibility for transparency

Transparency builds trust. That is why Transparency International sets a framework for transparency within charitable institutions. Stiftung Juno Kinderkrebshilfe has joined the effort to promote more integrity and responsibility.

We publish information that go beyond the legal disclosure requirements for civil organisations in Germany. It is laid out as a 10-point-list that was framed by the ITZ. This transparency aims at making our work comprehensible for the public and our donors, and thus strengthen both trust and credibility.

We are pleased that our charity has now been included in the list of signees by the ITZ.

 

About Initiative Transparente Zivilgesellschaft

Transparency International is the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption. To end the devastating impact corruption has on men, women and children around the world, we bring people together in a powerful worldwide coalition. Transparency’s mission is to create change towards a world free of corruption.

Transparency International is a global network including more than 100 established national chapters. The national chapters fight corruption on the national level in a number of ways. They are working independently and are self-financed. They bring together relevant players from government, civil society, business and the media to promote transparency in elections, in public administration, in procurement and in business. Transparency’s global chapter network also uses advocacy campaigns to lobby governments in order for them to implement anti-corruption reforms.

 

Spotlight on… Sigrun Lüttringhaus

Giving ideas and networking – those attributes characterise Dr. Sigrun Lüttringhaus. And who doesn’t need fresh ideas?

Stiftung Juno Kinderkrebshilfe honored to attend world premiere

This past Corpus Christi weekend, the world premiere of „Aufbruch“ by Swiss contemporary composer Olivier Truan took place as part of the 8th Symphonic Concert of Staatstheater Mainz. Stiftung Juno Kinderkrebshilfe was honored to attend the concert at St. Stephan’s cathedral with its world famous Chagall windows. Karsten Storck from Musica Sacra conducted this special musical performance. After the concert, a reception took place in the cloisters, where we had the opportunity to meet the evening’s fantastic artists, along with other guests.

Thank you to Harald Jaeger, a member of our board of trustees. Harald made it possible for Stiftung Juno Kinderkrebshilfe to be invited to the concert, and to represent the Foundation in this context.

May we introduce… our new Board of Trustees

We are excited to introduce our newly curated Board of Trustees for Stiftung Juno Kinderkrebshilfe and would like to extend a warm welcome to our new Board Members Frank Gellweiler, Sarah Herlofsen, Harald Jaeger, Angela Kast, Bettina Kramer-Braun, Mark Lenherr, and Sigrun Luettringhaus. They cover a wide spectrum of backgrounds and expertise, from finance and business to law, medicine, scientific research and sports. Despite their diversity, they have one important thing in common: when we asked them, they instantly agreed to help us fight childhood cancer! We would like to say thank you for their willingness and desire to help with this important cause and are excited about our journey ahead.

Our Board of Trustees supports Stiftung Juno Kinderkrebshilfe in an advisory capacity, helping promote the mission of the foundation. The members work in a pro bono capacity, contributing their own ideas and initiatives and making time available for Stiftung Juno Kinderkrebshilfe as they are able to.

Recently, the newly appointed Board Members had the opportunity to get to know each other in a kick-off meeting, and to learn more about Stiftung Juno Kinderkrebshilfe, its goals, upcoming projects and events. In order to introduce the new Members to you more thoroughly, we are planning a „Spotlight on…“ series with each of them over the next few weeks, so watch this space!

We look forward to working together with our new Board of Trustees – once again: „Welcome“ to Stiftung Juno Kinderkrebshilfe!