October 4, 2016
On Saturday, September 24th, we were honored to be a part of the 2016 Cal’s Cupcake Challenge. The proceeds from this event benefit the Calliope Joy Foundation. This is a terrific event, foundation, and most importantly, FAMILY!
Each year, Cal’s Cupcake Challenge brings together the 4th graders at Cynwyd Middle School, to create the best cupcake as judged by an esteemed panel of judges (which this year happened to include our own Mrs. Laura Carlino and Jill Santoro).
It was amazing to see the turn-out for a wonderful little girl, Calliope Joy, who suffers from Leukodystrophy.
For those that don’t know, straight from the Calliope Joy Foundation, Leukodystrophy is a family of disorders that damage the brain’s white matter or myelin. There are more than 40 forms of leukodystrophy and scientists are identifying more all the time. With leukodystrophys, children who are developing normally lose the ability to eat, swallow, smile, crawl, walk, and talk. All forms of the disease are fatal. Most leukodystrophies are genetic disorders with carrier parents passing on the genetic mutation to a child. However, some forms of leukodystrophy appear in the population without the genetic cause. The Calliope Joy Foundation supports families touched by leukodystrophy through travel grants for treatment, Cal’s Care Packages for children facing extending hospitalizations, Cal’s Wishes Fund (at the Kind Pediatric Hospice Unit at Abington Hospital), major gifts to the Leukodystrophys Center of Excellence at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and summer fellowships for talented college students to work alongside neurologists at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
We were so proud to be in attendance at the event that raised $23,000 toward Leukodystrophy research!
Look out for a feature on the Calliope Joy Foundation and Cal’s Cupcake Challenge on an upcoming episode of CBS Sunday Morning. (Follow our social media pages for a date and time.)
We can’t wait for next year and congrats to all of the contest winners!
