9/5 – Julia

May 20^th we held our first big fundraising event in Knoxville for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. On that same day, the Julia Barbara Foundation was holding it’s first DIPG Gala in Knoxville. I found their gala on an event calendar and reached out through their website. DIPG is a terminal brain tumor diagnosis and it has a lot of attention in Cincinnati, where The Cure Starts Now is based and where DIPG powerhouse Lauren Hill was from. DIPG is one of the reasons we started fundraising…How can there be tumors where at diagnosis, parents are told there is no hope??

Julia’s family feels the same way we do!

Julia was born just a few weeks after our daughter, Tillery. At the age of 2 ½, she was diagnosed with a DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma) brain tumor. Julia’s tumor was aggressive and she only lived a few months after diagnosis, which is common with DIPG tumors.

Julia’s family created the Julia Barbara Foundation in her honor to raise awareness of brain tumor signs and symptoms and to raise funding for DIPG research. A big initiative they have taken on is creating a National DIPG Awareness Day. Julia passed away on May 17, 2016 and there are 2 other DIPG kiddos who have passed away on that same date. The families are working together to make this a national day of awareness.

In addition to raising awareness, Julia’s family is working with other DIPG families on a bill to ask for more medical research consideration be given to pediatric high-risk cancers, the ones with little hope at diagnosis. Julia’s family would love for you to reach out to your US Representative to co-sponsor H.Res.69, the DIPG Resolution. If you are willing to help, send us your email address and we will send you a letter that you can send on to your representative.

The Julia Barbara Foundation is holding a 5k this weekend in Knoxville. For more information, visit https://runsignup.com/Race/TN/Knoxville/ZombiesLikeBrains8kandZombieWalkforDIPGAwareness.

#JuliaBarbaraFoundation #tilleryisloved #TILfoundation #alexsmillionmile #GoGold2017

To support childhood cancer research in honor of kids like Julia, make a donation to our team (TIL Foundation) with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. https://www.alexslemonade.org/mypage/1314958