It’s alarming to think about, but pediatric cancer is the leading cause of death among children under the age of eighteen.  This disease has taken more lives of children than asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, and AIDS combined.  It’s sad to think, but each day there are 36 children diagnosed with pediatric cancer.  There has not been a new drug developed specifically for pediatric cancer since the 1980s and the survival rates are starting to plummet to an all-time low.

These numbers may be scary to any of us, but mostly to parents.  This is why Joan Cusack, a mother of two, has taken the initiative to combat this disease for her children and children around the world.  Cusack has partnered with Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a national non-profit organization committed to raising funds for pediatric cancer research.  These people go about accomplishing this goal by doing something that almost every person has done before: baked. If you would like to be a part of this growing effort to increase research of pediatric cancer, just plan and organize a bake sale in your area and recruit friends, co-workers, and family to participate.  Then, go online to register your sale at Cookies for Kids’ Cancer.  After you’re finished, send your profits to their headquarters in New Jersey. This is an easy way for everyday people to get involved with such a big effort to reduce pediatric cancer in our children.  And, to make the deal even sweeter, Glad Products Company has offered to match all funds raised by the Cookies for Kids’ Cancer up to $100,000.

Since Glad is also a reliable company to keep each of the participants treats fresh, Glad has offered to supply a free package of GladWare containers to each registered bake sale. If you’re not too sure how to go about planning your bake sale, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer can help.  On their website, they provide a four-step process which helps you get started.  There is a sample press release, a permission to use location letter, and even a donation jar sign.  If you want to bake new and exciting treats, there’s a list of possibilities.  If you’re not that great in the baking department, you could always secure a monetary donation as well. Joan Cusack will be participating in the Cookie Stop bake sale on November 10th in New York City.  She is the mother of Dylan John, 12, and Miles, 9.  She is married to Dick Burke.