2021ANNUALREPORT Christian, 3 Years Old Burkitt’s Lymphoma Superhero
TABLE 96543CONTENTS:OF8 OUR HISTORY, VISION & MISSION PATIENTPROJECTSEVENTRECAPSSTORY: RORIE FISCAL REVIEW 10 2021 PROGRAMS’ IMPACT 1312 OUR 2021 TEAM TOP LETTERDONORSFROM OUR FOUNDER 14 THANK YOU
BRITTANY HEBERT FRANKLIN CEO & Founder, Sky High for Kids
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LETTER FROM OUR FOUNDER 3 Dear Friends, 2021 was a year unlike any other. Our team, volunteers and supporters felt the aftershock of 2020. Our resilience continued, keeping the patient families we support at the forefront. Overall, 2021 was a year of climbing back up the mountain, together. In 2021, we reached several milestones: Fulfilled 36 ‘Patient Packs’ for families fighting Childhood Cancer Hit $20 million in outgoing donations since inception Met our 2021 fundraising goal Moved into a new office Prepared to host not only one, but two new events in Tulsa Met new patient families Donated $3.1 million in 2021 alone Hosted ten major fundraising events and so much more It’s important we take a pause to reflect on what we have accomplished over the last 14 years. More importantly, we have a solid foundation to build on and a resilient team in We’replace.optimistic that we will not only meet our goals but surpass them in 2022 and beyond. You’re probably wondering, what’s next for Sky High for Kids. For starters, our team is growing. We’re also increasing efficiencies, growing our donor base and diversifying how we fundraise and that’s just the beginning! You’ll have to wait to see the Werest!recognize that we could not do this without your unwavering support and generosity. Thank you for all that you do. •••••••
OUR VISION OUR MISSION 4 2021 SKY HIGH FOR KIDS ANNUAL REPORT
Sky High for Kids’ mission is to bring communities together to provide comfort, fund research and save lives of those fighting pediatric cancer and other life-threatening conditions.
OUR HISTORY
After an impressionable fifteen-year-old from Louisiana visited St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, she decided it wasn’t fair children had cancer. During her trip, she shared a bowl of gumbo with Dalton, a boy undergoing chemotherapy treatments who hadn’t eaten in days. She didn’t know it then, but that visit would change her life forever.
Eight years later, Brittany Hebert Franklin founded Sky High for Kids after being challenged to raise $10,000 for the very hospital that made such an impact on her. She, and a handful of girlfriends, hosted Sky High for Kids’ first event: a sporting clay tournament. These women went on to raise $50,000 and the rest, as they say, is history. Sky High for Kids now hosts banquets, golf tournaments, a brunch, sporting clay tournaments and more events across the country. The organization is comprised of a small staff, a board of directors and an army of volunteers. Since 2007, Sky High for Kids has supported leading hospitals and research centers to help close the gap in Childhood Cancer rates. To date, the organization has donated over $20 million to benefit Pediatric Cancer patients and research. What began as a small sporting clay tournament has grown into a multimillion dollar charity that is truly making a difference and saving lives. End Childhood Cancer.
Each day eight families spend the most critical time of their lives at this facility. This ICU Center was the first ICU in the U.S. devoted to pediatric hematology and oncology and has served thousands of families.
Within the Sky High for Kids Tumor Biology Center, investigators can enable customized, precision therapy designed specifically for each child.
The Eric Trump Foundation Surgery & ICU Center
Sky High for Kids will fund a research floor dedicated to developmental neurobiology in the new 625,000-square-foot Inspiration4 Advanced Research Center (ARC) at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The ARC will be home to several other shared resources, including state-of-the-art biorepository, advanced microscopy, image analysis core and a gene-editing center. It will also house laboratories focused on immunotherapy, neurobiology, cell and molecular biology, metabolomics, epigenetics, genomics, immunotherapy and RNA biology. Research conducted throughout the ARC will help move pediatric cancer survival rates forward.
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES, MEMPHIS RISE & SHINE BREAKFAST
TEXAS CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL GLOBAL HOPE
B.I.G. LOVE CANCER CARE
TEXAS CHILDREN’S CANCER CENTER IMMUNOTHERAPY CENTER
Over 100,000 children develop cancer in sub-Saharan Africa each year and 90% do not survive. Our commitment will be designated to funding Sky High for Kids Training Centers. These advanced training and treatment facilities will be used daily by hundreds of medical professionals and help treat thousands of children suffering from cancer.
TEXAS CHILDREN’S CANCER & HEMATOLOGY CENTER
Sky High for Kids has invested in a variety of infrastructure and patient support projects including 24/7 security, bereavement support and kitchen renovations. Our team completed a $1.25 million pledge to fund the Power Grid Project to offer a solution to power outages at the house. At any given time, we are assisting 53 families staying there.
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES, ANNUAL ELECTRICITY BILL Sky High for Kids helps cover the cost of the annual electricity bill, allowing 53 families fighting pediatric cancer housed at The Ronald McDonald House Charities, Memphis to stay safe and comfortable.
Sky High for Kids Tumor Biology Center
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES, MEMPHIS
COMMITMENTSPLEDGECURRENT
Part of Sky High for Kids’ mission is to provide comfort. B.I.G. Love Cancer Care offers 17 programs including a weekly wish list program, carnivals, hospitality cart and more that offer comfort to the patient and families visiting Texas Children’s Cancer Center. Our annual contribution has helped more than 11,258 patients and families over three years.
ST. JUDE CHILDREN’S RESEARCH HOSPITAL
ST. JUDE CHILDREN’S RESEARCH HOSPITAL
In the U.S., over 16,000 children develop cancer each year. Immunotherapy presents an effective and potentially less toxic treatment for cancer. Sky High for Kids will help fund pre-clinical lab research, conduct clinical trials, purchase needed equipment and hire specialized laboratory and clinical research scholars. This investment will expedite the development of new immune therapies for Childhood Cancer.
The Rise and Shine Breakfast offers a hot meal for families as they head out to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for daily treatments. Chef prepared meals are made possible for the very first time by Sky High for Kids.
5 Ending Childhood Cancer.
IMPACTPROJECTSFUNDEDTODATE
100 days is the benchmark for a successful transplant. This is when a recipient’s body should start to mimic and recreate the donor’s marrow. Rorie’s body started to reject the transplant midway through. The doctors advised we do a “top off” which is another small dose of marrow from the donor to try and spark her body for a better reaction. That attempt failed as well. The only thing we could do was try to select another donor and repeat this process. We selected another donor for her third bone marrow transplant, and she underwent that procedure. This time we almost made it to day 100 when signs of cancer started to appear again. During this process Rorie’s body started to give up on her. All the side effects from chemotherapy, radiation, and medication impaired her lung function. Her oxygen levels started to get lower and lower, requiring her to be put on a ventilator and sedated. After a week or so, she stopped breathing on her own. She passed away five days after her 5th birthday. She fought for two years and never stopped smiling through any of it. Her smile was infectious, and I am just so proud that I was special enough to be called her Dad.
Her primary care physician called and advised us that her levels appeared to be an error and there must have been something wrong with the sample and to retake the test. The following day we received another phone call that the levels still appeared to be off, and that we should take Rorie to Texas Children’s Hospital (TXCH) for further review. After making a quick trip to TXCH for lab work, we were sent home and that same evening were notified that she had a form of blood cancer. Her initial diagnosis was Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, and we were told to pack a bag and head straight to TXCH for an undetermined amount of time. She immediately started chemotherapy. After that series of treatments, they evaluated her status once again. Her body was not reacting to the chemo like they were hoping, so they dove a bit deeper and found that she had a chromosome disorder changing her diagnosis and treatment. The new diagnosis was called Hypodiploid A.L.L. which had a very small chance of survival. The treatment was much more intense requiring chemotherapy, radiation, and a successful bone marrow transplant. Neither myself, her mother, nor my other daughter were close enough matches to be her donor, so we went to Be The Match. After combing through their databases, the doctors advised us that there were a few good candidates, but none that were considered a perfect match. So, with the help of family and friends, we started nationwide bone marrow drives to get folks tested. These drives added 25,000 donors to the registry, but we never found a perfect match. After a few months of prepping her body (chemotherapy, radiation, and dozens of medications to break her immune system down to nothing), the doctors selected what they hoped was the best candidate, and Rorie underwent her first bone marrow transplant.
Rorie was diagnosed with Hypodiploid Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (Hypodiploid A.L.L.) at the age of three. One afternoon, we noticed that Rorie had a fever that would continue off and on for a week or so. At this time, we took her to the pediatrician who requested a blood draw and full screening.
PATIENT
STORY AS TOLD BY HER FATHER, BRANDON: 6 “ “ 2021 SKY HIGH FOR KIDS ANNUAL REPORT
As a result of Sky High for Kids’ involvement, Brandon has become an advocate for our mission and spoke at our 2022 Houston Fundraiser.
7 Ending Childhood Cancer.
RORIE
55 P2P FUNDRAISERS 36 PATIENTFULFILLEDPACKS 1 SKY HIGH FOR KIDS ADVENTURE: FISHING 450 383 BLANKETS DONATED GROCERY GIFT CARDS DONATED OUR PROGRAMS 8 2021 SKY HIGH FOR KIDS ANNUAL REPORT
CORPORATE PARTNERS & FAMILY MEMBER SPONSORS CHARITY OF CHOICE DONORS TOP EVENT DONORS 2021 TOP DONORS 9 Ending Childhood Cancer. Air Products BlackArchrockServicesExpressDiamondCadenceBank EnergyChevronTransferGrayReedHGAIndustrialTent KayneSystemsAndersonLJAEngineeringMarbleCapitalNexTier SMPSRSpitzerSupplyTrident Cynthia & Ben Guill EngineeredPipelineSystems Evers and Sons Inc.
EVENT2021RECAPS 10 2021 SKY HIGH FOR KIDS ANNUAL REPORT
The 2021 Houston Ladies Who Brunch - hosted at the Westin Hotel in the medical center September 12- raised $463,000. Thank you to the event donors, sponsors and to all of the volunteers who made it aOursuccess!14th Annual Lafayette Fundraiser raised over $288,000 to help fund pediatric cancer research! Thank you to our largest event sponsor: Linear WeControls!raised a total of $463,000 at our 2021 Permian Basin Fundraiser. Thank you to all those who attended but especially to all of our top event sponsors: Saulsbury Industries, NVI, LLC, Advanced Integrated Services, Engineered Pipeline Systems, Black Diamond, SMP Supply, Archrock, Inc. and NexTier. We raised a record-breaking $1.2 million and we couldn’t have done it without our donors. We also owe much appreciation to our Guests of Honor, Celia and Cornelius Dupre, for their unwavering support of Sky High throughout the years and for their admirable giving hearts.
Howard Energy Partners hosted their Sky High on the Bayou fundraiser, July 24 in Port Arthur, TX. Ultimately, they donated $55,000 to help end Childhood Cancer. Thank you to the Howard Energy Partners team for believing in our mission!
LAFAYETTE BANQUET & GOLF PERMIANLADIESTOURNAMENTWHOBRUNCHBASINBANQUET AND SPORTING CLAY TOURNAMENT HOUSTON BANQUET AND SPORTING CLAYYOUNGTOURNAMENTPROFESSIONALS FALL INVITATIONAL GOLF TOURNAMENT SAN ANTONIO BANQUET THE DEWVILLE SOCIAL CLUB BAKER’S BOIL BUCKEYE FOR SKY HIGH HOWARD ENERGY PARTNERS: SKY HIGH ON THE BAYOU TOTAL SAFETY’S HELPING HEROES FUNDRAISER The 2021 Buckeye for Sky High event raised $1,078,008, including in-kind donations. Thank you to the Buckeye Partners team and to our top event donors, Tarsco and Consolidated Fabrication & Constructors!
CHARITY OF CHOICE
The Commercial Real Estate Millennial Misses (CREMM) hosted their Inaugural Pink Party to benefit our mission, June 23. Our event team had a great time networking with women in an industry we had little exposure to. All in all, they donated more than $10,000 to our mission. 11
INTERNAL EVENTS CORPORATE PARTNERS &
The San Antonio Banquet, hosted November 12 at The Hyatt Hill Country, raised $286,000. A very special thank you to our Patient Family Speakers, Denise & Madeline Stanton and to our Guest Speaker, Taya Kyle. We would like to thank the sponsor, committee members and volunteers for supporting our event year after year.
CREMM’S PINK PARTY
Our 2nd Annual YP Fall Invitational Golf Tournament was hosted November 1 at Westwood Golf Club. With your help, we raised over $134,000. The Helping Heroes hosted their 24th Annual fundraiser to benefit not only Sky High’s mission but another deserving nonprofit, Combat Marine Outdoors. Through their annual event hosted November 11-12, they were able to donate $80,000 to our mission.
The Dewville Social Club raised $117,000 through their Annual Baker’s Boil. The fundraising event has grown tremendously over the last few years from a few friends cooking crawfish. We’re thankful for the DVSC’s commitment to our mission!
FISCAL REVIEW $4.9M TOTAL REVENUE OUTGOING 2021 DONATIONS $3.1M TOTAL DONATED SINCE 2007 $20M Research Pledges & Community FundraisingManagementImpact&General 2021 EXPENSES 2021 OUTGOING DONATIONS $3.1 MILLION St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital $1,500,000 Texas Children’s Hospital $1,000,000 Ronald McDonald House Charities, Memphis $250,000 B.I.G. Love Cancer Care $95,000 Other $268,470 SKY HIGH FOR KIDS 2021 12 2021 SKY HIGH FOR KIDS ANNUAL REPORT 64%12% 24% Pledges & Community Impact Fundraising Management & General St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital $1,501,500 Texas Children’s Hospital $1,000,000 Ronald McDonald House Charities Memphis $250,000 The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia $100,000 B.I.G. Love Cancer Care ................................................. $95,000 Patient Packs & Adventures $91,182 Mission Related Efforts $82,465 48%8%32%3% 3% 3% 3% THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN HAVE BEEN IMPACTED ACROSS THE GLOBE WITH YOUR DONATIONS
OUR 2021TEAM SKY HIGH FOR KIDS LEADERSHIP TEAM BRITTANY FRANKLIN SHAUNTAE CENTERS KRISTINA GUTIERREZ GRACE CLARK Chief Executive Officer & Founder Director of Operations Director of Marketing & Communications Director of Events BOARD OF DIRECTORS Christine Noel Danny Shaftel Gary Purcell Greg Guidry HugoJayGuerreroOld Jim McAlister Joe Sauger Kelly Domingue RaviRevaThakkarAzeez Schuyler Evans Taylor Sass Brad Howell, President Hollie Citron, Vice President Joe Reuss, Treasurer Nicole Neumann, Secretary YP BOARD OF DIRECTORS BeauChrisGrenierGalio Colby Thomas David Murphy Jessica Morrison Miranda Knippers Robby Walls Sydney Mafrige Kerns Tim Ashe AMBASSADORS Amanda Fenn C.R. “Bubba” Saulsbury Clark Smith Cornelius Dupre Cullen Spitzer David DeRoode Jason Heckt John Atcheson Jim Franklin John Hernstat Marcella Burke Mike NicholasMollieApplingSchallTallantTaylorSass JUNIOR BOARD Brady Burch Brooklyn Howell Caroline Peters Carson Hebert Dylan Probe Hailey Naughton Kaitlyn MollieMadilynMafrigeHowellMikieMonclaDuplantis 13 Ending Childhood Cancer.
THANKTHANKYOU YOU THANK Crew, a Childhood Cancer survivor, and his little sister!
THANK YOU THANKYOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU 15 Ending Childhood Cancer.