Youth in schools and clubs all across Wisconsin teamed up this year to raise money for the Beat Childhood Cancer Fund. From schools right in Madison to as far away as Eau Claire and Merrill, students jumped on the Caps for the Cure campaign wagon and raised funds during the 2007-2008 school year to benefit childhood cancer research and treatment.

 

 

Caps for the Cure is an annual fundraising campaign started by Kristina Schultz in 2006. Kristina proposed that students donate one dollar to the Beat Childhood Cancer Fund to be allowed to wear a hat to school.

 

Starting in her school district, Kristina wrote a letter (pdf) to each school in the district and made follow-up phone calls to motivate principals and students. She felt so strongly about raising money because she was a patient at University of Wisconsin Children's Hospital (now American Family Children's Hospital) for several years.

 

Kristina (pictured, with her mother and fundraiser Zach Fairchild, then 11) lost her battle to ALL (Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia) in April 2007, but her dream lives on through the efforts of thousands of children throughout Wisconsin. Since 2006, the campaign has raised more than $35,000.

 

 

Plans for the 2008-2009 Caps for the Cure are already underway. For more information, please contact Kylee Carolfi Malik at (608) 890-9308.