Childhood Cancer

June 16, 2020  by

Kate’s Cause – Until Childhood Cancer is Extinct

Another June has arrived. Precious Kate Rhoades should have turned nine years old on June 5th this year. She should be running through her backyard smelling honeysuckle and chasing fireflies and looking out of her glass front door screen for foxes. Instead, her life was unfairly stopped short at just four and a half years young after a sudden and unexpected relapse of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

We vowed to the Rhoades family to tell her story, to do what we can to raise awareness for childhood cancer, and to perform Random Acts of Kateness in Kate’s memory. As a salon, we have also committed to donate, each June, $1 from every haircut we perform at Salon Khouri to Kate’s Cause, the foundation that Lindsay and Michael Rhoades created in Kate’s memory. Kate’s Cause is dedicated to raising awareness about childhood cancer, raising funds for less toxic treatments and ultimately a cure for childhood cancers, and giving back to the childhood cancer community. 

We encourage you to visit Kate’s Cause to learn what you can do to help beat childhood cancer. We also ask that you perform Random Acts of Kateness to honor Kate during June (#RandomActsOfKateness).  Find a neighbor who needs assistance going to the store or who needs help with their yard work; pay for the car behind you when you go through the drive-thru; offer to pay for a fellow shoppers’ items next time you go to a store. 

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December 1, 2019  by

Remembering Mathias Through our December Community Outreach Partner: Team Mathias

Mathias’ smile could make all your worries go away. His drive to help others, even when he himself was battling osteosarcoma, was truly inspiring. He wanted everyone to know that kids get cancer, and he wanted to do something to change not only the lack of awareness, but to change the landscape of funding in the childhood cancer field. Mathias’ epic compassion lives on through the work being done by Team Mathias, the non-profit founded by Mathias’ parents, Roya and Chris Giordano.

December 7th, 2019 marks five heartbreaking years since cancer stole Mathias Giordano from his family and friends. We are honored to remember Mathias through selecting Team Mathias as our December Community Outreach Partner. We are donating $1 from every haircut from our Fairfax and Loudoun locations this month to this local, non-profit who is making a difference in the lives of children battling cancer. We will promise to do random acts of kindness in Mathias’ name and would love for you to join in using the hashtags #PayItForward and #MathiasStrong.

The work being done through Team Mathias is bringing hope, comfort and blessing to others. Through providing meals to pediatric nursing units, hosting blood drives, providing care packages to pediatric cancer patients and their families (Mathias’ idea, by the way), to being the driving force behind the Virginia Cure Childhood Cancer license plate (also Mathias’ idea!), we are humbled by the constant service this non-profit is providing to our community.

We urge you to please learn more about the facts of childhood cancer. Then we urge you to do something. There are some amazing ideas on the Team Mathias site, on their Take Action page. Register with Be the Match, donate blood, sponsor a Team Mathias Care package, volunteer at an event, share facts on your Facebook page.

 

 

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October 1, 2019  by

Hearts of Gold: Alex’s Army Childhood Cancer Foundation – our October Community Outreach Partner

This is our fourth year that we have selected Alex’s Army Childhood Cancer Foundation as a Salon Khouri community outreach partner and it’s because we love their mission so much! Alex’s Army Childhood Cancer Foundation is a 501c3 whose mission is to raise awareness and funding for Childhood Cancer Research while providing Christian focused support to the Childhood Cancer Community.

A majority of their funds go directly towards funding childhood cancer research initiatives through world class organizations such as the Children’s Oncology Group (COG). Because childhood cancer remains the #1 cause of death by disease for children in our country and because childhood cancer research currently receives less than 4% of the total national cancer research budget, they remain committed and passionate about doing their part to help find cures! The goal of AACCF is to help support new research through providing whatever funding they can in order to help make a difference in treatment options available to children fighting childhood cancers.

Here’s the impact AACCF had in just 2018 alone:

  • $100,000 Research Grant to Children’s National to help fund the REST Immunotherapy Trial (more).
  • 260 Care Packages delivered to children at Fairfax Inova Children’s Hospital and to families and children in 14 different states
  • 12 Prayer Team visits which included bringing gifts, breakfast, coffee, and lots of LOVE to the families at Inova Children’s Hospital. In 2018, they incorporated a few themed visits including an EMOJI party and one time bringing Rapunzel with them!
  • 70 Prayer Pillowcases sent out to children and families
  • 60 Super Hero Dolls made lovingly by their friend Kristi Catlett at GoldRibbonCrochet
  • 100 parent toiletry kits delivered to Fairfax Children’s Hospital to be kept on the unit and distributed as needed to parents unexpectedly staying overnight
  • Additionally, they embarked on a few new things this year:
    • They sent families to Minefaire and gifted them with tickets for the whole family!
    • They created Forever in our Hearts Kites and mailed them to 18 different families.
    • They also helped provide meals to 4 different families locally in 2018.

And, on November 16th, 2019, they will be hosting the Hearts of Gold Gala to celebrate Five years of giving back to our local community. You may register for the gala here.

This October, we are donating $1 from every haircut from our Fairfax and Dulles locations to Alex’s Army Childhood Cancer Foundation and we know that every single penny will bring blessings to those in our local community battling childhood cancer.

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September 1, 2019  by

Our Community Outreach Partner for September: The Truth 365

Over 15,000 kids will be diagnosed with cancer in the next 365 days.

The goal of The Truth 365 is to educate and mobilize millions of people through Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social networking sites. Their full-length documentaries and shorter films inform the public that there is a critical need for funding for childhood cancer research. Through increased awareness comes increased funding. You see, children *should be* our nations’ priority. Yet, the shocking lack of funding for childhood cancers indicates otherwise. Over the past years, we have shared a statistic that we thought would surely have changed by now. Sadly, we are reporting the same this year: the National Cancer Institute allocates only 4% of it’s cancer research budget toward childhood cancers. And 4% is simply not enough. Drug companies aren’t allocating research dollars either, as there are 16 major types of pediatric cancers and over 100 subtypes – all of which need to be approached differently. Much of the funding for new therapies are left to be raised by the parents, which is a burden they should not have to bear. Yet, they do, faced with no other options for helping their children. They bike, run, shave their heads, participate in ultra marathons — just about anything they can do — they will to raise money to give to advance research.

We would love for you to spread the word about CureFest, an amazing and FREE, family-friendly childhood cancer event in Washington DC! This year, CureFest will be September 20-22nd with singer Chris Daughtry performing. Be sure to register for this FREE event.

We are donating $1 from every haircut from both locations this September to The Truth 365. We hope and pray that we will see an end to childhood cancers in our lifetime and awareness is the KEY to funding, which will be a KEY to a cure!

 

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August 10, 2019  by

DC Candlelighters – our August Community Outreach Partner

We are honored to partner with DC Candlelighters, our August Community Outreach partner. DC Candlelighters is an all-volunteer organization providing emotional, educational, practical and financial support to families of children fighting cancer. The name Candlelighters comes from the ancient proverb: “it is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.” DC Candlelighters strives to provide a light in the darkness because we believe no family should face the uncertain world of childhood cancer alone.

DC Candlelighters was founded by a group of mothers whose own children fought cancer, to give families facing the devastating discovery of a child’s cancer something they had wished for themselves – someone who has “been there” and understands the fear, helplessness, and financial and family pressures that grow out of a childhood cancer diagnosis. The DC Candlelighters Board of Directors consists of parents who have had a child with cancer and professionals who have worked with families who experience childhood cancer. The non-profit serves all children with cancer and their families, long-term survivors of childhood cancer and their families, and bereaved families who live or receive treatment within 50 miles of the Washington DC, metropolitan area.

DC Candlelighters has no paid staff, therefore, 100% of all donations go straight into servicing DC area families directly, for programs such as you’ll find on their Programs and Services page.

We will be donating $1 from every haircut we do in August from both our Fairfax and Dulles salons.

 

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June 8, 2019  by

Beauty out of the ashes – in Memory of Kate Rhoades

It doesn’t get easier. This June 5th, our dear friends, Lindsay and Mike Rhoades, wished their eight year old, sweet little girl, a happy, heavenly birthday. Kate Rhoades lived four years, but should have been here ninety more. But a sudden and rapid relapse to leukemia stole her from her family and friends when she was just four and a half years old.

There isn’t a day that goes by in the Elkhouri home where Kate Rhoades isn’t thought about or her name isn’t said. Our youngest is just a few months older than Kate. With every celebration with our little one, there is always a stinging reminder that Lindsay and Mike pass these milestones visiting Kate’s grave at Chestnut Grove Cemetery. Almost four years later, it still doesn’t seem real. It never will.

Out of the ashes is always beauty, however. Yes, the cinders still burn and always will until Lindsay and Mike are reunited with their precious Kate in heaven. But beauty is growing every day in Kate’s memory through people performing Random Acts of Kateness, to toys — lots and lots and lots of toys – being delivered to children battling cancer and through research. Last year, Kate’s Cause donated $25,000 to a young investor grant with a partnership with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. The money is helping Dr. Christian Hurtz, PhD, research and study the Cellular Pathways to Enhance Treatment in Ph-like acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the very cancer that Kate had.

We are again partnering with Kate’s Cause this June and donating $1 from every haircut at our Dulles and Fairfax locations to this amazing, local non-profit. We ask our SK Enthusiasts to perform Random Acts of Kateness — buy someone a coffee, help someone with their groceries, mow a neighbor’s lawn — then share about it with the hashtag #RandomActsOfKateness. We love seeing beauty growing from Kate. Her four short years here will leave an impact for hundreds of years to come.

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February 20, 2019  by

We love what Ellie’s Hats is doing for children battling cancer — our February community outreach partner

In the spring of 2013 a little girl named Ellie was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. By the time she started kindergarten in the fall, she had lost most of her hair and was wearing hats to school every day. Ellie’s Hats was born after one of her teachers, Jay Coakley, noticed how much cheer and individuality the hats brought to Ellie. He wanted to share that feeling with other children who suffered from childhood cancer and to also raise awareness.

Ellie’s Hats mission is to brighten the day of a child who is battling cancer. They do this by sending a package of hats and other items for the child battling cancer and their siblings. They include hats for the siblings too because often they feel left out. They have sent over 1,300 special packages to children across the country. For families in Northern Virginia, which is where they are located, they are able to do more than send them hats. They provide financial support and do whatever they can do to make these kids’ days a little brighter.

Ellie’s Hats is a 100% volunteer run non profit.

Here are a few other things Ellie’s Hats has done for kids battling cancer: #morethanjustahat

  • Donated $1,000’s worth of gift cards and checks
  • The “Hero Bag” Program at Inova Children’s Hospital. (A special bag is given to every newly admitted pediatric cancer patient)
  • Supply the food and drinks for the nourishment room and the PSV Clinic in Falls Church
  • Donated $10,000 to The Pediatric Oncology Family Support Fund in 2016
  • Donated $10,000 to Novant Hemby Children’s Hospital in 2016 to help them remodel their treatment room.
  • Gave three $1,000 Gift Certificates from a local auto repair shop to local families.
  • Helped a teenager go to a Wizards game and get to meet Steph Curry.
  • Had Kirk Cousins record a special video to a high school senior who was recently diagnosed with cancer.
  • Donated ipads, VR goggles, Play Stations, Nintendo Switches, Robots from Double Robitics.

It’s an honor to once again support Ellie’s Hats this February as our community outreach partner. We will donate $1 from every haircut this February from our Fairfax and Dulles locations to this very special, local non-profit.

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January 5, 2019  by

Giving Hope to thousands of children battling cancer

For Hope Veazey, diagnosed with leukemia at seven years old, HopeCam brought a peace of mind knowing that she could stay connected to her friends and her education. It brought normalcy to a hectic schedule that included many clinic visits and in-patient hospital stays. For Ted and Kristin Veazey, Hope’s parents, HopeCam brought a ray of hope when they were going through the toughest of times.

The mission of Hopecam is simple: to overcome the social isolation experienced by children in treatment for cancer. When a child is diagnosed with cancer, it is important to keep the child connected to school and friends. In fact, research by Suzuki and Kato in 2003 shows that children who felt more supported from their classmates during cancer treatment were “less depressed, less anxious, and had higher self-esteem” than children who did not feel supported by classmates.

We are honored to once again partner with HopeCam this January as our community outreach partner and will be donating $1 from each haircut at both our Fairfax, VA and Dulles Landing, VA locations. It brings us so much joy as a Northern Virginia salon able to give back to our community in this way!

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December 7, 2018  by

Paying it Forward in Memory of Mathias: Our December Community Outreach Partner

Mathias Giordano

This December marks four years since cancer stole Mathias Giordano from his family and friends. We are honored to remember Mathias through selecting the non-profit created in his name, Team Mathias, as our December Community Outreach Partner. We are donating $1 from every haircut from our Fairfax and Loudoun locations this month to this local, non-profit who is making a difference in the lives of children battling cancer. We will promise to do random acts of kindness in Mathias’ name and would love for you to join in using the hashtags #PayItForward and #MathiasStrong.

The heartbreaking yet beautiful words from Mathias’ mom, Roya, are shared below:

“4 years ago today our world changed forever.

I now realize that the hardest part of losing you, wasn’t to say goodbye but to learn to live without your beautiful smile, your hugs, your sense of humor, your love for life, your care for friends and family, your passion for food and your sophisticated taste for beautiful & contemporary things in life.

The emptiness that your dad, Troy & I feel in our hearts and in our home not just today but EVERYDAY is killing us. There is truly no greater heartache than having to live our lives without you! I was convinced that my heart would stop beating when yours did. 4 years later I’m still wondering how am I still breathing? If the broken heart syndrome is as real as they say it is why hasn’t it made my broken heart stop!

Being your mom has and will always be my biggest accomplishment in life. Your strength, determination and your love for life will always guide me to be a better person & my one and only mission in life is to protect your name and your legacy and to make you proud. I want you to keep smiling down on us in knowing that we are making a small difference each and everyday in the lives of those effected by cancer in your LOVING Memory.

We are blessed to have a lot of loving, caring & supportive friends and family who still remember and honor you daily.

Friends please #PayItForward in Mathias’ memory today. Go out of your way to make someone smile today because of Mathias. Make a donation to your favorite childhood cancer charity, Donate blood or platelets, do something small or big just to remember my sweet, beautiful, handsome boy. My soulmate, my Mathias.”

 

We urge you to please learn more about the facts of childhood cancer. Then we urge you to do something. There are some amazing ideas on the Team Mathias site, on their Take Action page. Register with Be the Match, donate blood, sponsor a Team Mathias Care package, volunteer at an event, share facts on your Facebook page.

 

 

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September 1, 2018  by

Our Community Outreach Partner for September: The Truth 365

Over 15,000 kids will be diagnosed with cancer in the next 365 days. Cancer kills more than 2,500 children in our country every year.

The goal of The Truth 365 is to educate and mobilize millions of people through Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social networking sites. Their full-length documentaries and shorter films inform the public that there is a critical need for funding for childhood cancer research. Through increased awareness comes increased funding. You see, children *should be* our nations’ priority. Yet, the shocking lack of funding for childhood cancers indicates otherwise. We are sad to again be including this fact in our blog: the National Cancer Institute allocates only 4% of it’s cancer research budget toward childhood cancers. And 4% is simply not enough. Drug companies aren’t allocating research dollars either, as there are 16 major types of pediatric cancers and over 100 subtypes – all of which need to be approached differently. Much of the funding for new therapies are left to be raised by the parents, which is a burden they should not have to bear. Yet, they do, faced with no other options for helping their children. They bike, run, shave their heads, participate in ultra marathons — just about anything they can do — they will to raise money to give to advance research.

We would love for you to spread the word about CureFest, an amazing and FREE childhood cancer event in Washington DC! This year, CureFest will be September 15th and 16th, with the 1.8 mile walk on Sunday.

We are donating $1 from every haircut from both locations this September to The Truth 365. You also have an opportunity to help by donating at our front desk where you can fill out a Childhood Cancer Awareness Square to hang in our window to help us #GoGold this September! To read more about the shocking facts of childhood cancer, please read our blog post from last year.

childhoodcancersquare

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