Ho, Ho, Ho! It’s The Faris Foundation Quarterly

Throughout the year, YOU have brought joy, magic, and hope to children and families affected by cancer. This holiday season, we wish for you the same blessings you have so generously shared. Thank you for believing in the work of The Faris Foundation and sharing your light with us. Stay Magical! Stay Golden!

Thank you to all the volunteers who have participated in our Art Parties – you have brought so much JOY and delight to children affected by cancer by sharing your time and creative spirit with them. Special shoutout to artist Lauren Taylor, who has envisioned and brought to life out-of-this-world art projects, as seen in the images below. A peek at the videos will brighten your spirits!For more opportunities to volunteer and make art with us in 2020, sign up here.

Your support during our Let There Be GOLD campaign has sparked MAGIC in the air, and for that we are so grateful. In the coming months, we look forward to introducing you to the very first Faris Foundation Art Fairy, who will be embedded at Texas Children’s Cancer Center. The Art Fairy is an art therapist who will join us in imagining and executing an expansive vision for the arts in the lives of children and families affected by cancer. Our creative hub at Texas Children’s Cancer Center is on its way, too – this one-of-a-kind studio space is currently under construction.

Thanks to the support and incredibly generosity of individuals like you, as well as our corporate and community partners, we are poised to make significant and transformative investments in pediatric cancer research. Our upcoming grant-making will focus on rare and underfunded cancers. You are giving the greatest of all gifts – HOPE.

An update from Dr. Sujith Joseph, of Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Cancer Center, the recipient of The Faris Foundation Immunotherapy Scholar Award who is investigating the promise and role of immunotherapy in the treatment of sarcomas:

“Sarcoma is an aggressive childhood cancer affecting bones and soft tissues. Clinical outcome for children whose sarcoma has spread (metastatic) remains poor with current cancer therapy. Immunotherapy is a promising new strategy that uses a patient’s own immune cells to fight cancer. We have developed a novel approach to introduce an artificial molecule known as a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) on an individual’s T cells (also known as immune cells). The CAR-modified T cells can identify and kill cancer cells in a targeted manner.”

The Foundation will continue to follow and share with you this exciting work and its outcomes. Our approach to grant-making is unique in our emphasis on accountability and collaboration, as well as the invitation we offer for you to interact with this work – whether through meeting the researchers, lab visits, and other learning opportunities. After all, it is through your collective support that this type of work is made possible.