Miami Students Working With Purpose

Despite modern medicine and our technologically advanced society, the U.S. is still lagging in research and results for childhood cancer treatments.

Only 4 percent of the National Cancer Institute’s budget is designated to researching all types of childhood cancers and, as a result, only four new treatment options have been FDA approved to treat childhood cancers.

These numbers stand in stark contrast to the 120 treatment options created for adult cancers between January and July just last year.

With Purpose, a nonprofit whose mission is to provide kids with cancer the safest and most effective treatment options modern medicine can provide, is working to bring these disparities to light among young people. They hope to inspire a youth-led movement that mobilizes communities to support the cause and institute changes to address it.

To achieve that end, With Purpose has partnered with the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) to host this year’s Bateman Case Study Competition. In this competition, college students across the nation have created and are currently implementing public relations plans to promote the organization and the issues surrounding childhood cancer.

Miami University’s Bateman team has been hard at work on their campus-wide campaign with the overarching theme of “Cherish your Childhood.” They want students to cherish their childhoods with the realization that kids with cancer aren’t always able to do so.

The team’s main tactic is their petition urging U.S. congressional leaders to increase federal funding for childhood cancer research. They have acquired over 600 signatures and will send the appeal to Miami’s congressman, Warren Davidson, as well as a distinguished Miami alum, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.

“We don’t want our petition to end here,” Miami Bateman team member Alec Hoelker stated. “We want everyone to continue to urge legislators and leaders from their hometowns to allocate more money and resources to this important issue.”