EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR JILL BRINCK shares the CFK success story – A Loveland Beacon Podcast

By Chuck Gibson

LOVELAND, OH (November 4, 2025) – Oh yes 2025 has been quite a year for CancerFree KIDS (CFK). The Loveland-based organization which funds research grants for the fight to eradicate childhood cancer invested $1.4 million in grant research.

Jill Brinck, Executive Director for CFK says they expect the investment this year to be the biggest year over year increase in their history. They will announce the amount of that investment sometime in November. September was labeled their “Month of Impact” with multiple events taking place to help raise donations to meet their mission of funding research grants to find gentle treatments and cures for pediatric cancers. The annual Celebration of Courage and the 100 Mile Challenge both helped make September a huge successful “Impact Month”.

LISTEN TO JILL BRINCK on LOVELAND BEACON TALKS: A podcast as she shares some of the 2025 CancerFreeKIDS story.

CLICK ON THE VIDEO LINK BELOW TO HEAR JILL SHARE THE 2025 CANCERFREE KIDS STORY – A PODCAST ON LOVELAND BEACON

For the third consecutive year, the Celebration of Courage raised over $1,000,000!

The 100 Mile Challenge raised more than $670,000 with the ever-expanding engagement of 2,700 community and corporate participants. Those are powerful numbers helping to make a powerful impact for future research. Not everything happened in September. Earlier in the year during the summer months the 20th Annual Paxton’s Golf Outing to benefit CFK was held on two days at Hickory Woods Golf Course and then another third day corporate outing at Oasis Golf and Conference Center.

CancerFree KIDS continues to focus their investments locally at the acclaimed Cincinnati Children’s Hospital & Medical Center. They’ve also expanded their reach to fund researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Brinck explained the exciting growth of the CancerFree KIDS team and the medical professionals now part of the Application Review Board.

It starts with fundraising, receiving research grant applications, reviewing the applications and then awarding research grants. What they do, Why they do it and How they do it is laid out very clearly on the CancerFreeKids webpage. At the end of the day, it is about making breakthroughs in the early stages through these bright and talented doctors, scientists and their innovative research. This is research that might otherwise go unfunded. CFK funding affords the opportunity to reach bold new horizons in the treatment and potential cures for childhood cancer.

Many new and innovative things are happening to strengthen and sustain the CancerFree KIDS mission. Brinck says they are reinforcing relationships with individual donors, the community and donor partners while building new corporate partnerships to ensure success today and beyond. They’ve reached a level today which allows them to have a five-year plan for the first time. CFK is incorporating technology which allows them to more efficiently review research applications and make the best informed decisions for research grant awards. Evolution of technology being implemented by the organization continues to help them identify best business practices, expansion opportunities and shared success to benefit the mission locally, nationally and globally for the future. It starts with fundraising, it’s fueled by fundraising, but it ends with research making a difference in the outcome for children with cancer!

Learn more about CancerFreeKIDS at: https://www.cancerfreekids.org/

ABOUT CANCERFREE KIDS:

The purpose and mission of CancerFree KIDS is to eradicate cancer as a life-threatening disease in children by funding promising research that might otherwise go unfunded.

​CancerFree KIDS was founded by Ellen and Sam Flannery after their baby daughter was diagnosed with cancer in both of her eyes at 5 months of age. Today, thanks to cancer research, that baby is a healthy college graduate. At CancerFree KIDS, we do one thing. We fund childhood cancer research. Why?

Before promising new research has the potential to succeed, it must have resources to begin.