National Children's Cancer Society

The National Children's Cancer Society (NCCS) is a United States charitable organization headquartered in Belleville, Illinois. It supports children with cancer, their parents and caregivers, and childhood-cancer survivors through programs intended to reduce the practical and emotional burdens associated with diagnosis, treatment, and long-term recovery. Its work addresses needs that are often outside the direct medical treatment covered by hospitals or insurance, including transportation, emergency household expenses, family navigation, education, and survivorship planning. The organization emerged from the experience of Mark and Carol Stolze, who encountered a family confronting the financial and medical obstacles surrounding a bone marrow transplant for a child with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma. The couple, together with Mark's father Alvin Stolze, founded NCCS after learning that children could be denied potentially lifesaving treatment because their families could not afford associated costs. In its early period, the charity concentrated on helping fund bone marrow transplants, donor searches, and marrow-harvesting procedures. Its first-year fundraising reportedly supported approximately eight to twelve transplants. As bone marrow transplantation became more established and insurance coverage expanded, NCCS redirected attention toward other barriers to continuous care. Its Transportation Assistance Fund helps families travel to treatment and maintain access to oncology appointments. The Emergency Assistance Fund can help with urgent nonmedical expenses such as housing payments, prescriptions, vehicle repairs, insurance copayments, and other daily necessities when a child is hospitalized or a family must relocate for an extended period. The Family Support Program connects families with case managers who provide individualized guidance, emotional support, advocacy assistance, and referrals. NCCS also operates programs for people beyond active treatment. Beyond the Cure provides childhood-cancer survivors with educational materials, long-term-care referrals, a tool addressing possible late effects of treatment, and scholarship opportunities through the Beyond the Cure Ambassador Scholarship Program. This reflects the organization's broader view that childhood cancer affects health, education, finances, and family life long after treatment ends. The organization also developed an international medicine-distribution effort after receiving donated excess chemotherapy drugs and learning of a Russian oncology facility's need for medicines. Its Global Outreach Program works with pharmaceutical companies in the United States to distribute lifesaving drugs to hospitals in developing countries. The program extends NCCS's work beyond American families while remaining focused on pediatric cancer care. NCCS's stated vision is a world in which all children with cancer survive and thrive. Its current model combines direct financial assistance, case management, educational resources, survivor services, and international pharmaceutical support rather than operating as a hospital or cancer-treatment provider itself.

NCCS was formed after Mark and Carol Stolze visited a friend in a hospital during Christmas 1986. The patient had stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma and needed a bone marrow transplant, but the procedure was financially inaccessible to her family. The transplant-unit director explained that hospitals had previously turned away children whose families could not pay for treatment. The experience exposed the Stolzes to a gap between medical capability and a family's ability to reach or finance care. Mark Stolze, whose professional background was in the jewelry business, began investigating the financial and logistical problems faced by families of children with cancer. About six months after the hospital experience, he and Carol, joined by Mark's father Alvin, established the National Children's Cancer Society. Early fundraising included work with a telemarketing agency, and the organization was able to finance roughly eight to twelve bone marrow transplants during its first year. NCCS soon identified additional transplant-related expenses that insurance did not reliably cover, including donor searches and marrow harvesting. It therefore expanded its assistance beyond the transplant itself. Over time, bone marrow transplantation became a more standard cancer treatment and insurers increasingly covered associated procedures. NCCS then adapted its mission toward recurring costs that still prevented families from maintaining treatment, such as travel, lodging, meals, and other household expenses. During the organization's sixth year, a pharmaceutical company offered excess chemotherapy medicines for donation. A request from a Russian oncology facility for medicines for children demonstrated that the shortage was not limited to the United States. These circumstances led NCCS to establish its Global Outreach Program, described by the organization as the first pharmaceutical drug-donation program specifically focused on pediatric cancer. The program has partnered with pharmaceutical companies in the United States to route donated medicines to hospitals in developing countries. Michele Hertlein led the Global Outreach Program for 24 years. Her own experience with cancer informed her understanding of the need for reliable pediatric oncology resources, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The program became one component of NCCS's broader support model, which also evolved to recognize the emotional and navigational challenges experienced by families during treatment. Case managers provide individualized assistance, advocacy guidance, and referrals rather than limiting the organization's role to direct payments. NCCS later expanded its focus to survivorship. The Beyond the Cure program was created for childhood-cancer survivors who may face late effects, continuing healthcare needs, educational disruption, and financial challenges after treatment. Its resources include a Late Effects After Treatment Tool, long-term-care referrals, educational materials, and a scholarship program. Together with transportation and emergency assistance, these services position NCCS as a long-term support organization spanning diagnosis, treatment, remission, and life after cancer.

• 1987

  NCCS is founded

  [1]National Children's Cancer Societyen.wikipedia.org

  Mark and Carol Stolze founded the National Children's Cancer Society with Mark's father, Alvin Stolze, after encountering a family's inability to finance a needed bone marrow transplant.

• 1987

  Early transplant assistance begins

  [1]National Children's Cancer Societyen.wikipedia.org

  The organization used early fundraising to help finance approximately eight to twelve pediatric bone marrow transplants in its first year.

• Support expands to transplant-related costs

  [1]National Children's Cancer Societyen.wikipedia.org

  NCCS began helping with bone marrow donor searches and harvesting procedures when insurers did not consistently cover those expenses.

• Global Outreach Program is established

  [1]National Children's Cancer Societyen.wikipedia.org

  After receiving excess chemotherapy medicines and learning of demand from an oncology facility in Russia, NCCS created a pediatric-focused pharmaceutical donation program.

• Survivorship services develop

  [1]National Children's Cancer Societyen.wikipedia.org

  NCCS established Beyond the Cure to provide childhood-cancer survivors with late-effects information, long-term-care referrals, educational resources, and scholarship support.

A patient- and family-support charity focused on the nonmedical, financial, emotional, educational, and long-term needs created by childhood cancer.

• Financial assistance

  Transportation Assistance Fund

  Provides financial help with travel-related costs so children can attend cancer treatment and follow-up appointments consistently. The program addresses transportation barriers that can interrupt care even when medical treatment is available.

• Emergency financial assistance

  Emergency Assistance Fund

  Offers support to families whose child has been hospitalized or whose care requires an extended relocation. Eligible needs may include housing payments, prescriptions, vehicle repairs, copayments, and other essential living expenses.

• Family services

  Family Support Program

  Connects families with case managers who provide one-to-one emotional support, advocacy guidance, personalized navigation, and referrals throughout the cancer journey.

• Survivorship services

  Beyond the Cure

  Supports childhood-cancer survivors after treatment through educational resources, long-term-care referrals, information about possible late effects, and scholarship opportunities. The program is designed around the continuing health, educational, and personal needs of survivors.

• International medicine donation

  Global Outreach Program

  Works with pharmaceutical companies in the United States to distribute donated lifesaving medicines to hospitals in developing countries, with an emphasis on improving access to pediatric cancer treatment.

1. 1National Children's Cancer Societyen.wikipedia.org
2. 2National Children's Cancer Society official websitechildren-cancer.org