For the past 2 years, the Springfield College football team has established a relationship with Luke Bradley, a 10-year old from South Hadley, MA. Team IMPACT is a non-profit organization charted to improve the quality of life for children facing life-threatening illnesses. Team IMPACT initially brought the Bradley family and the Springfield College football family together, but the relationship has grown far beyond a draft party, with Luke becoming a part of our team. This experience has been so much more than any of us expected and Luke and his family have taught us more than any of us could have ever imagined. It feels as if the two families have been connected for much longer than two years. Four years ago, Luke was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), one of the most common cancers that affect children. The disease stunted Luke’s growth, sapped his energy and put him in the hospital more times than any person should ever endure, let alone a young child. However, there was also hope for the Bradley family, as ALL has one of the highest survival rates among childhood cancers. Four years after the diagnosis, Luke has finished his treatments and has been in remission for the past year. This past fall he was able to get back on the playing fields and start in his first youth football game. However, the fight to cure childhood cancer is still ongoing for many other families, and on Sunday, April 12th, Luke and the rest of his Springfield College football family are teaming up with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a volunteer-driven group positioned to raise awareness of childhood cancer and funds for a cure, with their Shave to Save initiative at Rafter’s Sports Bar in Amherst, MA. Each year, 175,000 children are diagnosed with cancer worldwide. In the United States, more children die of cancer than any other disease – more than AIDS, asthma, cystic fibrosis, congenital anomalies and diabetes combined. One in five children who is diagnosed with childhood cancer will not survive, and two out of three children treated for childhood cancer will suffer from long-term effects such as sight and hearing loss, heart disease, secondary cancer and infertility. As it stands now, less than four percent of the National Cancer Institute’s budget is allotted to the research of childhood cancer. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation uses every dollar raised for childhood cancer research only and have raised over $150 million in research grants since 2005. Finding safer, more effective treatments for childhood cancer can’t be done without you. We hope that you can get involved by donating whatever you can, as every dollar will help make a difference in this battle.