About Us

At Children’s Cancer Research Fund Our Goal is Focused and Clearly Defined: Eradicate Childhood Cancer

And we’re making big strides.

In fact, research advances in pediatric cancer have resulted in:

• Survival rates rising from 10% in 1950 to nearly 80% today.
• Over 270,000 childhood cancer survivors being successfully treated and living in the United States.

With the continued support of Children’s Cancer Research Fund, new discoveries can keep building on the progress that’s been made, and we can keep working towards an ultimate goal – a world free of childhood cancer.

At Children’s Cancer Research Fund, we are venture capitalists – willing to invest in research that could result in the cure that brings us closer to eradicating childhood cancer completely. During the past year, early-stage research supported by Children’s Cancer Research Fund enabled researchers at the University of Minnesota Cancer Center to secure more than $8 million in additional grants to further develop those projects. In addition, the Cancer Center, working with the University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital, Fairview, fielded 65 clinical trials to test new and improved treatment options for children battling cancer.

On behalf of the doctors and researchers we support, and the children we serve – and save - we thank you for taking the time to learn about Children’s Cancer Research Fund and all the amazing progress that is taking place. With your help, we can continue to make medical history and, most importantly, help children lead healthy, happy lives.

Children’s Cancer Research Fund – Our History

It Began with a Simple Request…And Grew into Something Amazing.

In December 1979, Katie Hageboeck lost her 16-month battle with leukemia. She was only 13 years old. Before she died, Katie made a special request of her parents, Diana and Norm Hageboeck. She asked that Children’s Cancer Research Fund® be named as her memorial fund and that the money she had been saving for a new 10-speed bike be donated.

Diana and Norm did much more than donate Katie’s money. With the help of friends, they began organizing the first Dawn of Dream® benefit concert in 1980. The event, which was then held in 1981, raised more than $50,000 for Children’s Cancer Research Fund.

Since 1980, Children’s Cancer Research Fund has raised nearly $100 million through high-profile events such as the Dawn of a Dream gala, KS95 for Kids Radiothon and Macy’s Glamorama, along with gifts from several hundreds of thousands of individuals and corporations from across the country.

"I hope these families take some comfort in the fact that we are working hard to support the necessary research to find a cure," says Diana Hageboeck.

2007 Annual Report

6 MB PDF

This past year saw many changes in our organization as we continued in our focused mission to eradicate childhood cancer.