Panel Recording and Recap: The Cure Can't Wait!

We are still feeling the energy from Wednesday evening’s The Cure Can’t Wait event!

If you missed it, you can check out the recorded panel here.

Our gathering brought together 20 community members in person, with additional participants tuning in online.Thank you for joining us. Dan and I were honored to host this first-ever panel for our Madelyn James Pediatric Cancer Foundation's community and to share the importance of abundance in our work alongside the Emily Whitehead Foundation and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. What made this evening especially meaningful for us is that this space was our family’s home for 11 months during Maddy’s treatment—and it’s also where we gathered for one of the most sacred days of our lives: Maddy’s celebration of life.

Special Maddy Double Waves of gratitude to our amazing panelists—Dr. Susan Rheingold, George Eastwood, Dr. George Dalembert and Tahj Jackson—for lending your expertise, insight and heart. We loved discovering all of our connections—and most importantly, our shared passion for supporting families facing childhood cancer. Dr. George Dalembert helped us wrap our heads around equity by sharing a definition we can all use moving forward: every child has what they need to thrive.

Together, we explored the urgent need for systemic change, the resources and collective power we already hold and the small and meaningful actions we can take now. We also examined barriers in state policy and redefined equity through the lens of collaboration—it truly takes a village to ensure no child is left behind.

The evening left us inspired, motivated and hopeful for what we can achieve together. Equity and access is for everyone and together we can make it a reality.

We invite you to take one action: Give, Share and Do.

• Give $47 to honor the 47 children diagnosed with childhood cancer each day: madelynjames.org (to Madelyn James or another childhood cancer organization you love!)

• Share this message and what you learned to spark more conversations about health equity. And, share the link to our recorded conversation.

• Do one small act of kindness or advocacy—because hope often starts with starting small.

A heartfelt thank you to Catherine Radachi Chumley for your beautiful event planning, and to our sponsors—AKA University City, Golden Home Healthcare and Mac Mart—for making this evening possible. And to our incredible Board and Host Committee members—Grace Mihalich (who created a beautiful reel of the event!) Lyndsay Capaldo, Rowena Villanueva, Stephanie L. Fooks-Parker, Katie Oranges, Meredith Bracken, Julia McKee, Katelyn Manitone, Dorothy Hill, Susan Rheingold and Gianna Ummarino—we are deeply grateful for your leadership and support.

Most importantly, thank you to you, our community, for showing up, sharing hope and committing to a future where every child has what they need to thrive.