Help in the fight against childhood cancer

Block Out Cancer endeavor works to increase awareness, support for research

Childhood cancer is the number one cause of death by disease for children in the United States.

U-M is leading initiatives to change this with a number of faculty and labs conducting oncology research that could pave the way to cures for some of today’s most difficult-to-treat cancers.

Block Out Cancer is a social awareness campaign designed to raise funds to support the work of these critical efforts to find new, safer cures for childhood cancers. Now in its third year, it has grown from a largely awareness-focused campaign to one that offers individuals multiple convenient ways to engage in the fight for cures.

Highlights of this year’s campaign include:

• Corporate Partners including Cottage Inn, Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea, Slurping Turtle, Original Murdick’s Fudge, Michigan Fuels and Underground Printing
• Radio commercials and online advertising including video placements and digital ads on major web properties in our target demographic
• A crowd-funding website enabling companies, organizations and individuals to easily create teams and/or individual online fundraising pages
• Social media awareness efforts including a “Block Out Cancer” selfie campaign through which we’ve engaged more than 20 influential celebrities, athletes, civic leaders and personalities
• Apparel. In addition to the Block Out Cancer apparel designed in past years, silicon wristbands and a new #BlockOutCancer shirt has been added to the array of available items, which are currently available online at mottchildren.org/blockoutcancer and will soon be available in the carousel gift shop as well as on the 7th floor oncology unit.

If you missed the social media vending machine at the ice cream social, it will be making another appearance as part of the Block Out Cancer campaign.  Check it out the afternoons of Sept. 18 and 19 in downtown Ann Arbor in front of Underground Printing on Main Street.

Follow Mott Children’s Hospital on social media to stay up to date and informed on the Block Out Cancer campaign and our progress:

www.twitter.com/mottchildren – www.facebook.com/mottchildren – www.instagram.com/mottchildren

For more information, contact Rebecca Priest from the Department of Communication or Katy Kaliszewski from the Office of Medical Development.