Official Charities & Mission

Mission
The mission of the Loveland, Ohio Rat Race is to increase awareness and raise funds for CancerFree KIDS, Hospice of Cincinnati and The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This is an event that the whole family can enjoy while raising funds to benefit great causes. It offers a fun, inspiring, and supportive environment for all participants.

All proceeds from the event will be donated to CancerFree KIDS (CFK), Hospice of Cincinnati (HOC) and The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).

CancerFree KIDS:
Founded locally by Ellen and Sam Flannery (Loveland, OH) CancerFree KIDS (CFK) is a new breed of non-profit organization, bringing the donor closer to the end result: funding life-saving childhood cancer research that might otherwise go unfunded.

CancerFree KIDS is dedicated to saving every precious child’s life. Research on childhood cancers gives insight into all kinds of cancers and often has important applicability to adult cancers. However, the research on childhood cancers is extremely under-funded as compared to adult cancers. This is were CFK makes a difference. CFK forms alliances with researchers, funding promising projects and following results.

CancerFree KIDS . . . working together until every kid is cancer-free!

Hospice of Cincinnati:
Hospice of Cincinnati is the fourth oldest hospice in the United States, established in 1977. Our mission is to “provide compassionate, professional, personalized care to terminally ill people and to offer comfort and support to their loved ones…regardless of their ability to pay…during the patient’s illness, after the death, and through bereavement. Physical, emotions and spiritual care are provided in a way that affirms life and supports choices in an environment of dignity and respect.

As the Communities not for profit hospice, we offer support in a variety of services to meet the individual’s varying needs. We provide Bereavement services to the entire community, whether or not they have received care at Hospice of Cincinnati, including a Children’s Program, and Fernside: A Center for Grieving Children. We also provide Holistic Services offering massage, visualization, relaxation exercises, healing touch and music, art and pet therapy to enhance symptom management and well-being.

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society:
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education, and patient services. LLS’s mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myleoma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Since the first funding in 1954, LLS has awarded more than $680 million to research.

• An estimated 670,950 Americans currently have blood-related cancers.
• Every 5 minutes, someone is diagnosed - more than 106,000 new cases are expected this year.
• Every nine minutes, someone dies from blood-related cancers.

But, the fight is not hopeless. . . 25 years ago, only 5% of children diagnosed with leukemia survived. Today, 85% of the children with leukemia and 84% of those with Hodgkin’s disease will live, thanks to the research funded by LLS.