DAYTON, Ohio, Oct. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Aflac, the
leading provider of voluntary insurance sales at the worksite in
the U.S. and a committed corporate ally in the fight against
childhood cancer, today honored a group of heroes with Duckprints
Awards for leaving their footprints in the battle against childhood
cancer.
"Aflac's longstanding fight on behalf of children with cancer
and their families has been a source of great pride, motivation and
inspiration for the broad Aflac family for over 20 years," Aflac
Foundation President Kathelen Amos
said. "We are pleased to include Dayton Children's Hospital in our
ongoing Duckprints celebrations for a second year and to honor each
of these outstanding people and benevolent organizations for their
ongoing commitment to eradicate childhood cancer once and for
all."
The 2016 Duckprints Awardees are:
- Gina Robinette — A nurse
with Dayton Children's Hospital who provides invaluable patient
support in the hematology and oncology department.
- Kayleigh Crabtree — A
14-year-old philanthropist who has raised money and awareness for
childhood cancer before ever knowing she would face the same cancer
battle as the people she has helped over the years.
- Moms 4 Miracles — A group of women who support Dayton
Children's Hospital and its pediatric cancer patients, who are the
real heroes according to Moms 4 Miracles.
Less than 5 percent of federal funding for cancer research goes
to pediatric cancer, according to the Children's Cancer Fund.
That's why for more than 20 years, Aflac has contributed more than
$110 million to bridge the gap in
funding and help find a cure. In fact, over 16,000 of Aflac's
agents contribute more than a combined $500,000 from their commission checks each month
to support childhood cancer research and treatment.
As part of the grassroots Duckprints campaign that began in
2013, Aflac is calling on people across America to become active in
the cause. Aflac is donating $2 to
the fight against children's cancer for each Duckprints-related
social media activity on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and/or
Instagram, up to $1.5 million.
Related social actions include:
Twitter - $2 for any tweet
using the hashtag #Duckprints or for retweets of Duckprints-related
tweets. Facebook - $2 for any
share of specific posts related to Duckprints or using
#Duckprints.
YouTube - $2 per view of the Duckprints videos on
YouTube.
Instagram - $2 for every post
using the hashtag #Duckprints.
Aflac also created a website (aflacduckprints.com) that enables
users to nominate unsung heroes in their community who have made a
difference in the lives of children and families facing
cancer. People can follow the Aflac Duck on his journey to
hospitals around the country honoring those who have made a
difference in the fight against childhood cancer. In addition,
merchandise such as plush Aflac Ducks and Duckprints-related
T-shirts, slippers and other items are available for purchase at
aflacduckprints.com, with all of the net proceeds going toward the
treatment and research of childhood cancer.
About Duckprints Award Recipient Gina Robinette
No
matter how much has changed in Gina
Robinette's 30 years at Dayton Children's Hospital, one
thing remains constant – the human connection. Technology has
advanced and new treatments continue to emerge, but according to
Robinette, nothing beats humans taking care of humans.
In fact, that's why Robinette transitioned to working in
hematology and oncology. Battling cancer is a long fight and
patients become a part of a family at Dayton Children's. Despite
the arduous journey, tackling it together, one step at a time,
lightens some of the load. Robinette enjoys developing that
relationship with patients and their families while doing what she
can to help.
She knows that there will be bad days, but she also knows that
she can always help families cope with whatever comes their way.
She places an emphasis on improving the quality of life for both a
patient and his or her family. In doing so, Gina is able to show
them that shining light at the end of the tunnel.
The moments she will never forget actually come long after the
children she cares for have beaten cancer, grown up and moved on
with their lives. These past patients, who Robinette saw at their
worst, come back with their own children to visit her. She gets to
see the future that she helped create by caring for each child as
if they were her own. No matter what a child must endure today,
Robinette knows that a brighter future is possible, and she will
never stop reminding each child, and each family, that a new day is
ahead.
About Aflac Duckprints Award Recipient Kayleigh
Crabtree
Lemons and pineapples: Two tropical fruits that will always remind
Kayleigh Crabtree that the fight
against cancer is never over. While she is now cancer-free, her own
battle with the disease made her more passionate about raising
money and awareness than ever.
The word cancer first entered Kayleigh's vocabulary when she was
just 6 years old and learned about Alex's Lemonade Stand, an
organization which raises money for childhood cancer research. She
started hosting her own lemonade stands and in two seasons raised
more than $500 for the
organization.
Never did Kayleigh think that after those two successful summers
she would be on the other side of the stand. At age 8, Kayleigh was
diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The most common
type of childhood leukemia, it affects the body's white blood
cells. There is an 85 percent national survival rate for ALL and a
90 percent survival rate at Dayton Children's.
Despite the optimistic prognosis, the battle would be long and
hard for the Beavercreek preteen –
five phases of chemotherapy and losing her hair twice. Through it
all, she had a champion by her side – a man she liked to call Dr.
Pineapple. His real name is Dr. Mukund
Dole, spelled like the name on a can of pineapple but
pronounced with an "a" on the end. He was Kayleigh's oncologist,
and he and the team at Dayton Children's together helped Kayleigh
and her family make it through two years of treatment with a
successful outcome.
Today, at age 14, Kayleigh is just as passionate about raising
money for cancer causes, including Dayton Children's, Children's
Miracle Network Hospitals, CureSearch, The Leukemia & Lymphoma
Society and A Special Wish. Kayleigh's continued fundraisers
include jewelry sales, garage sales, hand-painted ornament sales,
and even selling a book she wrote and published as part of her
special wish.
And at the end of the day, Kayleigh knows that the roots of
awareness and support that she plants will bear fruit for
generations of cancer care to come.
About Aflac Duckprints Award Recipient Moms 4
Miracles
Blessings drive a group of Dayton-area moms to make the fight against
cancer a little easier for kids at Dayton Children's. They call
themselves Moms 4 Miracles and are all blessed to have healthy
children. But they say they are also blessed to have a children's
hospital close to home, a luxury not all families have.
So, when founder Sallie Taylor
heard a sermon at her church in 2011 about putting her life into
play and using her God-given talents to help others, she knew it
was time to count those blessings and share some with others. She
signed up to pray for people with cancer and asked God to put her
life into play. The next week, she was called to raise money for
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
She, in turn, called on her friends – an incredible group of
mothers – to help her raise money. They went above and beyond,
raising $42,000 in honor of children
with cancer, with the biggest fundraiser being a golf outing. That
amount earned Taylor the title of "Woman of the Year" and cemented
her future as a champion for children.
The next year, Taylor created the Moms 4 Miracles Fund through
the Dayton Foundation. Every year, this group of dedicated moms
hosts their annual golf outing. They have also added a Derby Day
event, and local businesses have all joined in with fundraisers.
Battling cancer is a long process, with weeks spent in the hospital
at a time, so these Moms also have purchased gaming systems and
tablet devices to help entertain kids. During the last year, they
raised $25,000 to name an outpatient
transfusion room in the new pediatric cancer treatment floor of the
patient tower currently under construction at Dayton Children's
main campus.
All this work is for their "heroes" – that's what they call the
children they support who are battling cancer. With the
proceeds, the Moms help pay off medical bills, make wishes come
true, fund research or support hospital initiatives.
All this fundraising takes a lot of time, hard work and
perseverance, but Moms 4 Miracles says it's actually become another
blessing. They get to see the indomitable spirit of youth conquer
illness. They get to be a part of healing and hope. And in the end,
they get to help make miracles.
About Aflac
When a policyholder gets sick or hurt,
Aflac pays cash benefits fast. For six decades, Aflac insurance
policies have given policyholders the opportunity to focus on
recovery, not financial stress. In the
United States, Aflac is the leading provider of voluntary
insurance sales at the worksite. Through its trailblazing One Day
PaySM initiative, Aflac U.S. can receive, process,
approve and disburse payment for eligible claims in one business
day. In Japan, Aflac is the
leading provider of medical and cancer insurance and insures 1 in 4
households. Aflac insurance products help provide protection to
more than 50 million people worldwide. For 10 consecutive years,
Aflac has been recognized by Ethisphere as one of the World's Most
Ethical Companies. In 2016, Fortune magazine recognized Aflac as
one of the 100 Best Companies to Work for in America for the 18th
consecutive year and included Aflac on its list of Most Admired
Companies for the 15th time, ranking the company No. 1 in
innovation for the insurance, life and health category for the
second consecutive year. In 2015, Aflac's contact centers were
recognized by J.D. Power by providing "An Outstanding Customer
Service Experience" for the Live Phone Channel. Aflac Incorporated
is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange
under the symbol AFL. To find out more about Aflac and One Day
PaySM, visit aflac.com or espanol.aflac.com.
Aflac herein means American Family Life Assurance Company of
Columbus and American Family Life
Assurance Company of New York.
Media contacts – Jon Sullivan,
706.763.4813 or jsullivan@aflac.com
Analyst and investor contact – Robin Y.
Wilkey, 706.596.3264 or 800.235.2667, FAX: 706.324.6330, or
rwilkey@aflac.com
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