CancerFree Kids presents ‘Celebration of Champions – Home Edition’

You’re invited to join the 2020 CFK “Celebration of Champions’ online Home Edition this Friday, November 13

By Chuck Gibson

LOVELAND, OH (November 10, 2020) – This annual celebration of CancerFree Kids ‘Celebration of Champions’ is being hosted at home this year due to COVID-19 health and safety measures.

Jill Brinck is in only her second year as Executive Director for CancerFree Kids (CFK) and attended her first ‘Celebration of Champions’ just one year ago. She learned first-hand how powerful it is to see and hear the survivor’s and to see and hear the researcher’s share their stories of the impact research-funding grants from CancerFree Kids have on pediatric cancer research. The event is usually held on the second Thursday in November at the Manor House in Mason with about 600 attendees. This year Brinck and the CFK team have gone through the process of finding a way to present the celebration event while still keeping everyone safe and well during this pandemic year.

“We’re really excited,” said Brinck. “Obviously it is not everybody gathering in person, but that is the life we live right now.”

Brinck says over the last six months, the CFK team really tried to think through every way possible to still provide a very meaningful experience on the night of Friday, November 13, – the ‘Celebration of Champions’ . They experienced the ebb and flow of the rise and fall, and rise again of COVID cases. With a plan in place for a ‘Home Edition,’ she’s confident the event will still have “all the components people admire and adore.”

“We have Bob Herzog and John Gumm coming back,” Brinck said. “They’re comedians in their own right. They’re always entertaining. There will be no shortage of laughter.”

Herzog and Gumm serve as your emcee for the evening. The event features a live-streamed program including some pre-recorded segments. You’ll see Bob Herzog doing interviews with the kids on a Zoom call Brinck says was a lot of fun to be a part of. Laughter and fun will highlight the evening, but to be sure it is an event critical to fueling the CFK mission in this unique year to help find gentler and more effective treatments for children battling cancer. The program will include childhood cancer survivors like Gracie Tapp – a two-time ALL survivor – who will share her personal story. There will be mobile bidding on silent auction items, grand raffle, and fund-a-grant to support innovative childhood cancer research. They took a look back to find a way to share the impact of the grants and research since the beginning.

“We have an impact video that showcases some of those outcomes we are excited to share with everyone,” said Brinck. “We have such a tenured group of longtime supporters that it is really what they have done.”

Instead of only 600 attendees at the Manor House in Mason this year, you and I will be able to tune in to watch live at no cost. Register now for FREE. If you have the YouTube app on your Smart TV, you can join in the event on the CFK YouTube channel. Thanks to CFK supporter Cincinnati Bell, if you simply have Cincinnati Bell Fioptics as your TV provider, you can tune in on local 500. CancerFree Kids encourages you to have your own viewing party at home where you can tune in 20 minutes before the 8 p.m. start to see photos of CancerFree KIDS supporters from throughout the year. The livestream program begins at 8 p.m. with hosts Bob Herzog and John Gumm set to bring you updates on the CFK mission and highlight some of the incredible survivors.

“We wanted to keep it as meaningful as possible and keep that same experience people would get if they were in the room the night of the event,” Brinck said. “You don’t have to dress up, you can sit there and enjoy it from your own home.”

If you really want to know what CancerFree Kids is doing; what they are all about, this is your chance to see it first-hand – even if it is from your own home. Sure, there is a silent auction you could have the winning bid on the item you simply must have. There’s the $100 each Grand Raffle tickets you could win a VIP trip to Costa Rica, or your choice: The Masters, The Kentucky Derby Experience, The Grammys or Country Music Awards. All great rewards for supporters, but nothing like the reward of seeing the difference CFK is making for childhood cancer survivors.

“We are able to engage more child champions this year than we ever have before,” Brinck said. “That, to me, is the most exciting part; being able to spread awareness about our mission and what we do. This will bring attention to the issues of childhood cancer and give hope to those families who are in the midst of it.”

CancerFree KIDS Celebration of Champions: Home Edition,

presented by Cincinnati Bell and CBTS

• Friday, November 13, 2020
• Livestream program: 8 pm (On CFK YouTube channel -app required) (On your CinBell Fioptic TV channel 500) 
• Registration is free
• Website: cfkcelebrationofchampions.org
• Anyone can bid auction items or tune into the event that night