Kentucky Pediatric Cancer Research Trust Fund Present $500,000 For Childhood Cancer Patients

First Lady Beshear also recognized Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. First Lady Britainy Beshear joined leaders from the Kentucky Pediatric Cancer Research Trust Fund (KPCRTF) Board to present $500,000 to the University of Kentucky (UK) Markey Cancer Foundation for the Care Advancing Treatment Succession (CATS) Financial Assistance Fund for pediatric cancer patients and their families. The First Lady also recognized September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

“In Kentucky, we prioritize our kids and our families,” said First Lady Beshear. “To every child battling cancer, please know you are not alone. You are loved, and this month and all months, we celebrate you and your loved ones.”

“Kentucky remains a national leader with our commitment to supporting childhood cancer families through our continued investment in funding research to ensure our families receive the best care,” said KPCRTF President Elizabeth Turner. “We are extremely grateful for the continued support.”

The CATS Financial Assistance Fund supports UK HealthCare pediatric cancer patients from birth to age 29 by covering essential family expenses to improve treatment adherence and overall well-being. The CATS Fund provides families with funding for housing and utility assistance, transportation assistance, medical equipment, nutritional supplements and an emergency fund for natural disasters based on social work-identified needs.

This $500,000 investment in the CATS Fund is in addition to another $500,000 announced in May of this year. In total, in May, Gov. Beshear announced $1.9 million from the Kentucky Pediatric Cancer Research Trust Fund (KPCRTF) in financial and psychosocial support grants to organizations across Kentucky supporting children living with cancer and their families.

“Markey Cancer Center clinicians and researchers work closely with Kentucky Children’s Hospital as they deliver exceptional care for our youngest patients,” said B. Mark Evers, director of the UK Markey Cancer Center. “We share expertise, research capabilities – and, most importantly, a commitment to ensuring that Kentucky families receive world-class cancer treatments and research right here at home. This funding supports that mission by helping families focus on what matters most – their child’s healing and recovery.”

In 2024, Gov. Beshear worked with legislators to secure a record $14 million to fight childhood cancer over the biennium: $10 million for research funding through House Bill 6 and $4 million to support the families of Kentucky’s pediatric cancer patients through House Bill 1.

Team Kentucky Leads Fight Against Childhood Cancer
In 2015, the commonwealth became one of the first states in the nation to dedicate funding for childhood cancer research. That year, the KPCRTF was established by Senate Bill 82 and was funded with $2.5 million each year of the biennium as part of the 2018 budget. In 2022, the budget bill included $2.5 million in base funding per fiscal year, as well as an additional one-time allocation of $3.75 million per fiscal year.

Gov. Beshear has supported childhood cancer research since his first days in office. In February 2020, he and First Lady Beshear met David Turner Jr., who was battling DIPG, an aggressive form of brain cancer. That day, David Jr. said he wanted to use the Governor’s proclamation pen to declare National Ice Cream Day.

During the last year of his life, David Jr. visited the state Capitol many times to advocate for other children with cancer and for all Kentuckians who were at higher risk for COVID-19 complications. He even joined one of the Governor’s press briefings and shared a message on his social media pages.

On May 21, 2021, David Jr. passed away from DIPG at age 9. Just a few hours later, Gov. Beshear proclaimed May 21, 2021, as the first David Turner Jr. Ice Cream Day in the commonwealth, a tradition he will continue every year he is Governor.

David Jr.’s mother, Liz, is now the president of the Kentucky Pediatric Cancer Research Trust Fund Board.

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