​Come join us for our Summer Fling at 20 Main for music, food, and a good time!

​*Superhero Sponsor Shoutout*
We are so happy to share that we have received a $500 sponsor donation for our Annual Summer Fling! While the donor has requested to remain anonymous, we are so incredibly thankful for their support!!! 🎗️🙏💛
You too can be a Superhero 🦸‍♀️ 🦸‍♂️! There’s still time to donate an item or service as well as to sponsor.

​Get your tickets 🎟️, grab your masks 🎭, and join us for a great cause🎗️at our Masquerade Gala to Benefit Childhood Cancer… Did we mention that Taylor LaValley and Brandon Frenyea Music will be playing?!?! 🎶
Tickets can be purchased at: https://www.zeffy.com/ticketing/2025-annual-masquerade-gala

​Get your tickets 🎟️ 🎗️🎭
​2025 Annual Masquerade Gala

​We are incredibly thankful for the Adirondack Foundation in helping us to offer this new grant. If you know of a family battling, please share this with them. The application is in the comments and can also be obtained through emailing [email protected].
*Applications are due by August 29th*
#adirondackfoundation #childhoodcancer #northcounty #grants

​We are beyond grateful for the help they gave us during Karson’s surgery and treatments in NYC. 💛🙏🎗️

We are wishing Alauna Goodman, a member of our Executive Committee, a very Happy 19th Birthday 🎂. Alauna has been a volunteer for Hope for Miracles for over 5 years, and has just recently joined our committee. Alauna, thank you for all you do to help and support children and families fighting. We hope you enjoy your special day.​

(4) Summer Fling | Facebook
​Mark your calendars for our Annual Summer Fling! ☀️
We’re getting ready for an afternoon full of music 🎶, fun 🤩, laughter 🤭, and community spirit 👐 ~ all for a great cause!🎗️
What's Happening:
🎶 Live Music ~ Mark Henry
🎁 Bid on our exciting Chinese Auction items
🍺 Enjoy a refreshing sip at the Cash Bar
🍽️ Grab a bite to eat at our BBQ
🫴Toss a few bags at our cornhole competition
🍀Try your luck on our raffles
✨Help us make a difference. Let's come together to support children and families with a childhood cancer diagnosis, all while having a good time!✨
🌟Remember, 10% of proceeds will be donated to UVM Children's Hospital and the remaining funds will be donated to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for much needed research for childhood cancer. 🙏🎗️💛
If you are interested in sponsoring this event, please reach out for more information.
See you there!

​This sweet warrior’s scans are clear!!!! Thank you, God! 🙏
And, we thank all of you for your prayers! 🎗️🙏💛

​Check out our article, thanks to the Sun Community News & Printing! 

​JAY | During his school Spring break, Karson Hull, a neuroblastoma warrior, and his mother, Holly LaBombard, traveled to New York City to deliver their second $100,000 donation, on behalf of Hope for Miracles, to continue funding a clinical trial for childhood cancer. 

LaBombard is also the Founder and CEO of Hope for Miracles. Hope for Miracles was created in honor of Karson, who has battled neuroblastoma three times in his 14 years. Through the family’s quest for answers, they learned that only four percent (or less) of research funds are dedicated to childhood cancers, and rarer forms like neuroblastoma receive even less. She emphasized that devoting funds to research is the only way to find a cure for neuroblastoma and other childhood cancers. Hope for Miracles does just that. It raises much-needed funding for childhood cancer research, and that is their main goal.

However, LaBombard said that they also understand the importance of helping families locally and because of that, they contribute 10 percent of their funds raised to the UVM Children’s Hospital programming, provide an annual grant to local families currently receiving treatments, offer wrap around services to these families (thanks to a new grant from the Adirondack Foundation), and deliver care packages for children and families. LaBombard expressed that they work extremely hard to ensure that their operating costs, since their inception, have been 4 percent or less.

Funds raised for research have gone to Memorial Sloan Kettering for a clinical immunotherapy vaccine trial, mentioned above, that has shown to be safe and effective in treating children with neuroblastoma. The actual vaccine being tested can be used to treat not only neuroblastoma, but all solid-type tumors in both children and adults.

“It is very important to me to give help and hope to other families who are dealing with a childhood cancer diagnosis. I also want to inspire others to get involved in the fight against childhood cancer. Strength is in numbers, and together we can help fund the research that will change the lives of these children and families,” said LaBombard. 

In this spirit, Karson and his family welcome community members to their Masquerade Gala this Fall. This year’s Gala, to be held on Nov. 1, will take place in the Gold Room at the Rainbow Wedding and Banquet Hall in Altona. The Gala will feature Taylor LaValley and Brandon Frenyea, include a cocktail hour, delicious cuisine, networking, auctions, dancing (DJ Flash), and professional photos. You can learn more about this event on their website or follow them on Facebook for updates.

“It makes me feel good that my family and I can do these kinds of things, along with some new ideas we have, to help research a cure for those like me,” Hull said.

“We are so incredibly thankful to our community members, families, and businesses for their ongoing support and participation. The sponsors, donors, attendees and overall supporters are the superheroes, along with Karson and the other warriors like him, of course," LaBombard said.

She also mentioned that Hope for Miracles has been in existence for just over six years and they are still trying to spread the word about what they do and how all of us can help. Hope for Miracles, Inc. is a 501(c)3 public charity and previously donated $100,000 to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for Childhood Cancer research, and is currently working to send their third $100,000.

For more information about Hope for Miracles, visit www.hopeformiracles.org.

​Did you know that it’s #nationalsuperheroday⚡️ ?
Karson is my superhero 🦸‍♂️ ! Who’s yours?
In the picture below you’ll see Karson on the last day of his hospital stay at age 3, after his first surgery. Being a superhero is innate for him. 
#myhero #mywarrior 🎗️

​I added some old pictures for the now and then… #sothankful 
This is a long post. I think they are more for me than they are for all of you. They are cathartic and I like to see them in my memories. Yesterday we were able to hand deliver our 2nd $100,000 check to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK Kids) to fund a childhood cancer immunotherapy vaccine trial. What I wasn’t prepared for, was how that would feel. It didn’t hit me until we were almost upon the hospital. We had started the route just like we had in the past, at the apartment, the Mondrian, and we did our usual route of getting Karson treats along the way (Beard Papa’s and Insomnia Cookies). It’s about a 20 minute walk and it was a gorgeous day ~ a sunny 80 degrees in NYC with flowers and budding trees. We pointed out things along the way that we remembered and some we didn’t. He had a smile on his face the whole way there. The closer we got, the more I remembered that period of time, and the harder it was for me to keep it together. I was reminded of this walk with a sweet friend who was being treated at the same time. How we met part of the way and how both she and Karson had surgery the same day. She passed last fall.
Upon entering the 9th floor of the hospital, MSK Kids, there is a huge waiting area, and it’s full…  Filled with sick children and their families, all fighting cancer. There are so many. I don’t know what I was thinking… It’s not like you forget something like that, but you learn to block it out. Seeing all of those little faces, so sick. It’s gut wrenching. Our day went on to be a normal, happy one. But theirs didn’t… They have months, some years, of fighting ahead of them. They didn’t get to just walk out of there and put it behind them. Some won’t make it… My girls never saw the inside of MSK, and at the time, I missed them so much when we were apart, I would have given anything for them to be there with us. But, looking back, I’m so glad they weren’t. I don’t know if they would be able to view all of this with the same lens that Karson did and does. He truly is a miracle. While speaking with our contact after the meeting, she asked about Karson’s sisters. I explained that Kaite was at UVM College for nursing and she offered up that if Kaite wanted to intern at MSK Kids, that she could make that happen. I shared that with Kaite and her response was, “Mom, I don’t know if seeing all of that every day, knowing that Karson was one of those children, if I could do that. But I’d like to try…” Once we exited the hospital, I looked at Karson and I asked him if that was hard for him… I told him that if it was, we didn’t ever have to go back in there! That we would mail our check, we didn’t have to hand deliver it. He looked at me with surprise and his eyes got big and he just said, “What?!?! What do you mean? What are you talking about? Of course I want to deliver it!” I asked, “That wasn’t hard for you?” and he said, “No!”…. I’m constantly in awe of him. The first time we sent our check it was 2021 and covid rules were still in place, and we weren’t allowed to hand deliver it. So, this was a first for us; the first time we entered the building since Karson’s time there as a patient, and Karson did it with grace and thanks. 🙏 
The meeting with his surgeon and the head of research was so informative. There was so much information that I’m unable to share it with you yet. I’m waiting for the contact to share it all with me as I knew I wouldn’t remember it all, and I didn’t want to get it wrong. As soon as I have this information, I’lll be sure to share it. We met for over a half an hour. They spoke about Karson’s journey, about where he is now, and I might have broke down for a bit, but then I pulled it back together. I never expected that we’d get to sit with them all and have a conversation; that the scientist would explain, in detail, what the vaccine is, where the supplies come from, how it works, the efficacy and range… These people don’t have time for this… But, they made time. They took the time to meet with us, to thank us, and to explain that how what we, Hope for Miracles, Inc., were doing, was integral. How 100% of the funding was philanthropic and none came from the government or pharmaceuticals. It’s all funded by nonprofits like ours, families of children fighting, past and present. If knowing this doesn’t make you outraged, it should. #thisiswhyifight 💪🏻🎗️ #mymiracleman #Godisinthisstory 🙏

​What did we do in 2024? We provided 11 local families with care packages 📦 , granted a local family battling childhood cancer $2,000 to help with medical expenses⚕️, donated 10% of our total proceeds to the UVM Children's Hospital 💚🏥💛, raised a total of $32,417 🙌 and reached our second $100,000 goal 🥅 of funding research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK Kids). There is so much to celebrate! Click the link 🔗 below for the breakdown.
Annual Report 2024 🎗️ - https://mailchi.mp/2f01174ef90b/hopeformiracles

​We are deeply grateful for a recent Generous Acts grant from Adirondack Foundation ~ A force for good that pools gifts from generous donors who love the Adirondacks and care about our communities.
This grant will allow Hope for Miracles, Inc. to provide wraparound services for families with children battling cancer. In addition to our Karson’s Warrior grant, this funding will enable us to help families with gas, travel, lodging & food costs due to treatments and doctor appointments. In addition to this, we will be able to help these families enjoy a bit of fun as a family ~ an adventure. We know how incredibly important laughter and togetherness can be in healing. #BecauseofKarson 
We thank Adirondack Foundation for their support! 🎗️🙏💛

​We don’t just hold events for fun… We hold them to raise funds because our children deserve better. Sometimes I feel like I’ve run out of ways to share how furious I am over the hand that pediatric cancer patients and families are dealt. When will they be given the same opportunities and funding that adults get? Why is this even an issue? I can’t grasp it and I’ve lived it for 10 years. I don’t think I’ll ever understand. And recently…. As we should be making headway, childhood cancer has lost even more funding. Someone make it make sense to me… 
#advocate #beatthe4%

​Amy, thank you so much for the beautiful set up of our 3rd Annual Hometown Hoedown! Everything looked so wonderful. We are so appreciative of all of your hard work and donation of your time and skills. 🙏🎗️💛

​#thankful
Last night was groundbreaking thanks to these people! I’ll share more about this as we finalize our numbers… We are so incredibly thankful for those listed below ~ the Hoedown Throwdown group! 💛
@Rick Couture
Laurie Lucia-Cross
Patty & Kevin Agnew
Martha Breyette
Nancy Dow & Adirondack Kickin it with Nancy
Jenn Grenier
We could not have had the successful night we did without every single one of you!!! I can’t wait for next year! P.S. Save the Date ~ April 4, 2026! 🤠👢

​FourSeasons Photo Booth ~ Thank you both so much for donating your time to our 3rd Annual Hometown Hoedown! You guys were a hit for sure!!!! 💛🎗️🙏 Thank you for ensuring that  our guests have memories that will last for years to come!!!