Careathon 2018: What your donation means to local families

Jacksonville, FL — It started with an idea during a meeting in 2014. The Child Cancer Fund of Northeast Florida needed to find a partner that could help tell the story of everything it does to help local families after receiving a cancer diagnosis.

Mix in some creative people and an idea was born: Careathon. A day-long broadcast dedicated to raising awareness of the programs offered by the Child Cancer Fund and an appeal to donate to continue funding those programs into the future.

A driving force behind the passion for this event has been the stories that childhood cancer survivors tell about one person: Miss Joli. Joli Craver is the Child Life Specialist at Nemours Children’s Specialty Care and her position is funded by the Child Cancer Fund.

Joli (pronounced Jolly) is a jovial presence for the kids as they sit in treatment for hours on end. She is there every step of the way on their cancer journey. Many times, Joli has visited the school of her patients to help their classmates better understand their disease and the treatment options.

Proceeds from the WOKV Careathon have helped to fuel a restricted account to forever fund the Child Life Specialist position at Nemours. To date, nearly $450,000 has been raised through Careathon and a large portion of that has been placed in the restricted account. The rest has been divided up between several Child Cancer Fund programs that assist children and their families including but not limited to: bill payment assistance, gift cards, family camp trips to Boggy Creek, and tutoring.

Every dollar raised through the WOKV Careathon goes directly to childhood cancer patients and their families. And every dollar stays in the NE Florida/SE Georgia area, where approximately 130 children receive a cancer diagnosis each year.

You can help these families on their cancer journey by supporting the WOKV Careathon and donating to the Child Cancer Fund several ways:

• Listen to our broadcast on Friday, July 20th from 5am-6pm on 104.5 FM or 690 AM and call 855-636-6877
• Text 'FOREVER' to 41444 to begin the process of making a secure online donation
• Make a secure online donation directly to the Child Cancer Fund here  
• Bid on one of several one-of-a-kind items and priceless events in the Careathon auction here 

Our goal is to raise $250,000 by the end of the broadcast day and, with your help, we will achieve it.