A nonprofit in Dallas is working with Jersey Mike's Wednesday to raise money. All 88 Jersey Mike's locations in North Texas will donate 100% of their sales Wednesday to "Wipe Out Kids' Cancer."
"That's an easy fundraiser for the Metroplex. We're just asking you to go have a meal," says Wipe Out Kids' Cancer Chief Executive Kris Cumnock. "I have yet to find any other organization that will give you 100% of proceeds."
Wipe Out Kids' Cancer has been working with Jersey Mike's for 15 years. Jersey Mike's has since expanded its "Day of Giving" to help nonprofits across the country, raising $20 million.
"You see a lot of [comanies giving] 20%, ten percent. They give us 100%, so if you go in Wednesday and buy a bag of chips, we get all of it," Cumnock says.
Wipe Out Kids' Cancer launched 45 years ago. Cumnock says they approach pediatric cancer with a "3-D look."
He says the organization has donated $12 million for cancer research. The group also provides "buddy bags" with clothes, toiletries and bedding for families taking kids to the hospital and provides parents time to spend together.
Of the buddy bags, Cumnock says a kid's cancer diagnosis is a "complete surprise."
"It's not something where you can go home and pack a bag," he says. "It's, 'We've confirmed the diagnosis. You need to take your son or daughter straight to the hospital right now.'"
He says parents will not have time to pack, so the buddy bags contain practical items but also restaurant gift cards, a reading light and games. For kids, the bags have an iPad.
"An iPad allows these kids to Facetime friends and family which is really important," Cumnock says. "It allows them to keep up with their schoolwork and download entertainment."
He says giving kids videos can help them concentrate on something other than treatment. For research, Cumnock says organizations are trying to make treatment less invasive. In one case, Wipe Out Kids' Cancer funded a project to develop a table to help kids stay still during radiation.
He says kids often want to move around during treatment, but doctors do not want to put people under anesthesia each time they go for radiation.
"This researcher came up with a table that, when you look up, it's like a movie screen above them," he says. "It's got a red, yellow and green light below the movie. Kids can select any movie they want, and as long as they're still, the movie's on, the green light's on and the radiation's going. If they start to wiggle, the yellow light comes on as a warning they've got stay still. If the red light comes on, the movie shuts off, the beam shuts off until they're still again. Now, you can avoid all of those, sometimes 20 times, putting them under anesthesia."
For parents, he says the organization will help them schedule time together, outings with other parents or family activities.
"We have programs that put families together. We may send a family out to a Mavericks' game to get them away from the diagnosis for a little bit, just a couple hours respite from that," he says.
Cumnock says parents of kids with cancer have an elevated divorce rate, so giving them time to spend outside the hospital can help them bond and also talk with other families.
More information about Wipe Out Kids' Cancer is available at WOKC.org.