We host Fashion Funds the Cure in honor of our son Theo, who passed away from cancer in October 2016 at 19-months-old. Theo was diagnosed at five-months-old with an aggressive childhood cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma that had metastasized before it was discovered. In 2015, and still now in 2021, no effective treatments exist for metastatic rhabdomyosarcoma. Sadly, the same can be said for many other pediatric cancers.

Every day, 43 children will be diagnosed with cancer, and more than 40,000 children are in treatment every year. In the last 20 years, only four cancer treatments have been specifically developed and approved for children with cancer. The truth is that 1 in 285 children will be diagnosed with cancer, and 12% will not survive. When a child dies from cancer, an average of 68 years of life is lost. And unbelievably, pediatric cancer research receives only 4% of the federal government’s funding for cancer research. That’s why pediatric cancers like Theo’s don’t have cures. More research is desperately needed to find better treatments for kids like Theo—the funding of which is largely dependent upon philanthropy.

Fashion Funds the Cure benefits the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation (NPCF). The NPCF funds pediatric cancer research across a network of more than 30 children’s hospitals throughout the country. 

We hope to see you to celebrate the incredible children walking in our fashion show and to fund the research for the better treatments they so desperately need and deserve.

With love and gratitude,
Ricky and Leah Huff, Event Chairs