Vuka - Intelligent Energy

Here at Vuka, we are always keeping our eyes open looking for extraordinary people and extraordinary accomplishments. Well, we just happened to come across this story and wanted to share.

If you don’t already know, we support an organization called “Cookies for Kids Cancer”. The foundation began with a little boy named Liam who, in 2007, was diagnosed with stage 4 pediatric cancer at age 2. Liam lost his battle on January 24, 2011 and it broke our hearts and all the people that followed his battle. The organization his parents founded, Cookies For Kids’ Cancer has just granted $700000 in funds to aid pediatric cancer research and it’s their goal to raise millions more.

Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is not about one child or one type of pediatric cancer. It is about changing the facts of pediatric cancer for the better, forever. Important statistics to know:

• Cancer claims the lives of more children annually than any other disease – more than asthma, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis & AIDS combined.
• 46 children per day are diagnosed with cancer totaling nearly 13,000 new cases per year.
• Cure rates have improved dramatically and advances in childhood cancer research has provided seminal insights into the cancer problem in general. Today, 4 out 5 children diagnosed with cancer can be cured.
• While long-term goals for the pediatric cancer community will focus on securing more federal funding for childhood cancer research (more than the 1-2% of the National Cancer Institute budget that is current expended), philanthropy plays a critical and essential role in the ongoing battle against childhood cancer.

Unfortunately, this story does not end with Liam. This blog is about a little girl named Alex, who was determined to fight her own battle by selling lemonade in her own front yard!

“Alexandra “Alex” Scott was born to Liz and Jay Scott in Manchester, Connecticut on January 18, 1996, the second of four children.
Shortly before her first birthday, Alex was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a type of childhood cancer. The same kind of cancer that took Liam. On her first birthday, the doctors informed Alex’s parents that if she beat her cancer it was doubtful that she would ever walk again. Just two weeks later, Alex slightly moved her leg at her parents’ request to kick. This was the first indication of who she would turn out to be – a determined, courageous, confident and inspiring child with big dreams and big accomplishments.

By her second birthday, Alex was crawling and able to stand up with leg braces. She worked hard to gain strength and to learn how to walk. She appeared to be beating the odds, until the shattering discovery within the next year that her tumors had started growing again. In the year 2000, the day after her fourth birthday, Alex received a stem cell transplant and informed her mother, “when I get out of the hospital I want to have a lemonade stand.” She said she wanted to give the money to doctors to allow them to ”help other kids, like they helped me.” True to her word, she held her first lemonade stand later that year and raised an amazing $2,000 for “her hospital.”

While bravely battling her own cancer, Alex continued to hold yearly lemonade stands in her front yard to benefit childhood cancer research. News spread of the remarkable sick child dedicated to helping other sick children. People from all over the world, moved by her story, held their own lemonade stands and donated the proceeds to Alex and her cause. 

In August of 2004, Alex passed away at the age of 8, knowing that, with the help of others, she had raised over $1 million to help find a cure for the disease that took her life. Alex’s family – including brothers Patrick, Eddie, and Joey – and supporters around the world are committed to continuing her inspiring legacy through Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.”

On June 11, 2011 you can help support Alex’s Lemonade Stand at Sunflower Market in Thornton, Colorado! They are hosting a lemonade stand from 10:30-2pm. You can help make a difference for children that are still battling this terrible illness. And while you’re there, please know, the when you purchase a Vuka, a portion of the proceeds of each bottle go twards Cookies For Kids’ Cancer.