Who Benefits?

Our goal is to help teens not just survive cancer but live through cancer.  Joey knows first hand how difficult it is for teens to continue the life they had before being diagnosed.  Living the active, fast paced and busy life of a teen when you feel like yuck can take a lot of self-motivation and courage.  Even after treatment is complete there are an unbelievable amount of side effects to contend with which may take years to finally resolve. Teens deal with very specific social, hormonal, intellectual, emotional and physical issues which are very different than those adults and children have.  Further complicating a teen’s medical and psychological cancer treatment is the almost complete lack of research and treatment done based on teen specific data. 

The Rippel Effect will strive to alleviate some of these teen specific issues.  By granting funds, goods and services which address a teen’s specific need or desire during treatment we hope to empower, encourage and motivate teens and to make their fight a little easier.  In addition we will grant funds to organizations and research projects which address issues specific to teens or to organizations working with teens with cancer. We hope these projects and organizations find answers and solutions which alleviate the struggles associated with cancer and its treatment.

These grants whether to individual teens or to organizations are very broad in scope due to the vastness of the effects that cancer can have.  The Rippel Effect does not limit the ways that teens might receive help to deal with their cancer fight.

Examples

• A few examples of goods and services which might be given to teens are:
• Money for wigs to keep the ever self-conscious teens looking good.
• Blackberry type phones and service to keep teens, friends and family connected during treatment.
• Tickets to athletic or cultural events to keep teens spirits up and their social lives active.
• Supplies to allow them to continue any hobbies they may have but can’t afford as a result of the added burden of cancer treatment.

• A few examples of grants made to organizations and research projects are:
• Storage containers for freeze spray which acts as a numbing agent for injections.  Teens especially like this instead of the numbing ointment which has to be applied well ahead (even teens in treatment don’t want to be bothered) and doesn’t smell good (even teens in treatment still want to be smelling good).  Hospitals are reluctant to keep this supplied due to expense associated with storing the spray. 
• Money for studies looking for less toxic means of treating cancer.
• Funds to institutions, such as M.D. Anderson which are dedicated to the treatment of cancer.  The funds must be used by the institution to support teens in their cancer fight.