Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation (AWOCCF) board member Kristen Alexander is making the most of September, which is childhood cancer awareness month, with a fundraiser for the cause. This is her fifth year of organizing the Be a Voice fundraiser, which will take place on Saturday, Sept. 7, at the Essex Elementary School from 4 to 7 p.m..

With lots of fun planned for the event, Alexander hopes she will be able to exceed last year’s $15,000—in fact, she hopes to double that number.

“One hundred percent of the funds raised at this event go to fight childhood cancer,” said Alexander.

She has a plan to make the event even more successful. This year, the event will bring a kids fun run, as well as a dunk tank; a giant, inflatable obstacle course; a martial arts board-breaking demonstration; and a life-sized Jenga game.

The event will also include food trucks, free face painting and henna tattoos, live music by the band Remember September, raffles, and a huge silent auction.

Alexander first got involved with AWOCCF after her father passed away from a stage four brain tumor.

“After he passed, I was talking to a friend about one of her friends whose daughter had cancer and was going through the same kind of treatments my dad had gone through. I saw what they did to him and his body and I could only imagine how that would affect a young child’s body, so that really gave me the push to get involved with Arms Wide Open. It was a way to help children and carry on my father’s legacy and fight,” said Alexander.

“The money goes to important cancer research and finding cure, as well as helping families who are struggling with children who have cancer,” explained Alexander. “We help them in any way we can, whether that means helping them to pay for medical bills or electric bills or travel expenses, what ever we can do to help them through what is a very difficult time in their lives.

“A portion of the donations also go to the making of documentaries about childhood cancers,” she added. “In the past, AWOCCF documentaries, which bring awareness to childhood cancers and the struggles these kids and their families face on a daily basis, have won eight Emmy awards. These documentaries are also another way of being a voice for this organization and they give children battling cancer who want to contribute an outlet for them to feel like they are doing something important and everlasting that will hopefully help others.”

All activities for the day’s event are free; the entrance donation to the event is $10 per carload. If it rains, the event will be held inside the school. For more information or to sign up for the fun run, visit awoccf.org/beavoice.