In 2020, while the world was figuring out which way was up, as was our family, our then 7 year old Gerald was diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma. This cancer can hit anyone at any age, and is very fast growing and aggressive. Like the cancer, the treatment is also very fast and aggressive, requiring week long, inpatient, 24/7chemo treatments every few weeks for several months. To help with treatment, patients are encouraged to move and exercise as much as possible. Being the person that he is, Gerald took this to heart and started moving as much as possible given his treatment and the limitations on movement around the hospital because of pandemic restrictions. Basically what was allowed was laps around the oncology floor. While doing laps Gerald decided that he wanted to help those that were helping him. So, he started raising funds for each lap that he completed to give to the Child Life program at Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines. He set a modest goal of $300 having no idea the amount of support he would get from family, friends, the community, and complete strangers. Gerald ended up raising over $12,000 (find out more about this journey please see his original fundraising page, https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lapswithgerald).

That was over three years ago, and now Gerald is an active 11year old who in addition to his other activities continues to enjoy helping those who have helped him, and others like him, either directly or indirectly. Gerald has participated in, and supported, other fundraising and awareness programs. Last year Gerald and his sister participated in their first Fluttering campaign to help raise funds for Unravel, to increase awareness about childhood cancer and fund pediatric cancer research. Fluttering itself is a fun activity, but it is also very rewarding to help those that have helped others, including Gerald.

We are Fluttering again this year to continue to raise awareness about childhood cancer, and to help fund pediatric cancer research since there is still so much left to do. Fluttering will be going on for the entire month of September, so please help us continue this chain of community awareness!

Unravel is a 501(c)3 nonprofit working to bridge the gap in funding for pediatric cancer research. With the help of warrior families and their communities, Unravel raises awareness of the need for this research and the funds to support it.

Unlike the typical grant funding model, Unravel gives unrestricted funds to innovative pediatric cancer researchers, which removes barriers and accelerates the development of more effective and less toxic treatments for children with cancer.