FRISCO, Texas (August 27, 2024) – In support of September’s Childhood Cancer Awareness month, FC Dallas announced initiatives as part of Major League Soccer, MLS WORKS, and Continental Tire’s Kick Childhood Cancer campaign to raise awareness and funds to combat childhood cancer. Now in its 11th year, Major League Soccer’s Kick Childhood Cancer efforts support research aimed at finding a cure for all forms of childhood cancer.
Throughout the month, Continental Tire has committed to donating $50,000 to fund pediatric cancer research. Fans are encouraged to support the campaign by sharing a message of hope for children and families in the fight against cancer using #KickChildhoodCancer. To learn more, fans are encouraged to visit MLSsoccer.com.
The Kick Childhood Cancer campaign will benefit Children’s Oncology Group (COG), the world’s largest organization devoted exclusively to childhood and adolescent cancer research, uniting more than 10,000 experts in childhood cancer at more than 200 leading children’s hospitals around the world. The Kick Childhood Cancer campaign has enabled COG to strengthen research efforts across the entire spectrum of pediatric cancers, including Project: EveryChild – a unique project aiming to capture the biology and outcome data of every child diagnosed with cancer.
The cost of a single enrollment into a clinical trial such as Project: EveryChild can approach $10,000 per patient. According to COG, the League’s Kick Childhood Cancer campaign has helped to offset the costs of more than 55,000 clinical trial enrollments to-date, with nearly 60,000 expected to be enrolled by the end of 2024.
FC Dallas & North Texas SC Children’s Health Visits
FC Dallas players will visit patients at Children’s Medical Center Plano during the week of September 9, and North Texas SC players will visit patients at Children’s Medical Center Dallas during the week of September 16. FC Dallas staff have made blankets for players to distribute during the visits.
Kick Childhood Cancer Night presented by AdvoCare | FC Dallas vs LAFC on Sept. 21
The month’s highlight is FC Dallas’ Kick Childhood Cancer Night, presented by AdvoCare, on Saturday, September 21, at Toyota Stadium. The match will feature specialty Kick Childhood Cancer-themed tops worn by the players during warmups, jersey patches, gold nets, gold corner flags and a customized match ball to raise awareness for the campaign. Fans can show their support with gold ribbon pins, which will be distributed at the Children’s Health activation on the North Concourse.
Former Children’s Health patient and FC Dallas Unified Team athlete Dylan Esteron will serve as the Honorary Captain of the Match, presented by Children’s Health.
Artwork designed by a Children’s Health patient will serve as the Matchday Poster for the evening. The poster will be available for purchase at Toyota Stadium retail locations, with proceeds benefiting Children’s Health. The Kick Childhood Cancer-themed tops will also be available for purchase at all retail locations, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Children’s Health.
The Kick Childhood Cancer-themed tops worn by FC Dallas players during warmups will be auctioned through the DASH Auction App, beginning at 7:00 p.m. on September 21 and ending at 5:00 p.m. on September 27. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the Battle Brynn Foundation, which provides experiences that allow children to enjoy their lives during the challenges of childhood cancer.
