Our foundation is named after a brave little boy named Jeffrey Pride. Jeff's short life was full of many loves. He loved his sisters, his friends, his dog, school, hockey, NASCAR, video games, drawing, and building models. Jeff was a hard worker, and he fought hard in his two-year battle with leukemia.

Still, three days after his seventh birthday, Jeff died.

In the course of his battle, his parents came to realize how under-funded cancer research was for children, even by the large foundations and societies that have become household names. Cancer is the #1 disease killer of children, and less than 3% of all the money raised to "fight cancer" goes to fund pediatric cancer research. It is because of this, as well as the fact that 1 in 300 children will be diagnosed with cancer before they reach the age of 20, that we have taken on this very important mission.

With the help of Jeff's doctors, we have chosen to contribute the funds raised to Children's Oncology Group (www.childrensoncologygroup.org) the world's largest pediatric cancer research organization and foundation. Children's Oncology Group oversees more than 90% of all the pediatric cancer research that is done in North America, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and the Netherlands, and writes all treatment protocols for children's chemotherapy regimens. Chicago area hospitals that are members of the Children"s Oncology Group include Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital, Rush - Presbyterian St. Luke's, University of Chicago, Loyola University Medical Center, and Lutheran General, to name a few.

As one of the larger donors to Children's Oncology Group, we have a designated fund called The Jeffrey Pride Fund for Targeted Therapy Discovery in Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. 100% of our donations to Children's Oncology Group are divided among two critical areas that are desperately under-funded: pharmacological research of new chemotherapeutic agents, and subsidizing clinical trials so children will be able to receive new and potentially life-saving drugs. There are plans in place for studies of several new drugs as funding permits.