Santa Barbara, CA – This Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, the Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara highlights two grants it awarded earlier this year to local organizations supporting children with cancer and their families: Cottage Children’s Medical Center and Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation.
Cottage Children’s Medical Center
The Cancer Foundation awarded a $90,000 grant to Cottage Children’s Medical Center to fund a Pediatric Research Coordinator position. This position supports the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) clinical trials for children receiving care through Cottage’s pediatric hematology-oncology clinic. The COG is the world’s largest organization researching only pediatric cancer therapies, and Cottage Children’s Medical Center is the only place on the Central Coast where families can access its clinical trials.
During the first six months of 2026, Cottage Children’s Medical Center had four pediatric oncology studies open to enrollment, four patients on active protocol therapy, and seventy-three patients in long-term follow-up.
Since 2007, the Cancer Foundation has funded the Pediatric Research Coordinator position. In May, Cancer Foundation staff and trustees visited the recently opened Cottage Grotenhuis Pediatric Clinics, part of Cottage Children’s Medical Center’s outpatient services, to learn more about Cottage’s pediatric services and how the coordinator manages their cancer clinical trials.
Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation
The Cancer Foundation also awarded a $5,000 grant to the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation (TBCF), which has served families affected by pediatric cancer in the Tri-Counties for 23 years. The grant helps fund the organization’s financial, emotional, and educational support programs.
During the first six months of 2026, TBCF served more than 135 families. Its programs provided:
- Financial support: 67 families received assistance with household bills and expenses associated with caring for a child with cancer.
- Emotional support: 117 families received professional and peer support.
- Educational advocacy: 5 families received support with their child’s academic needs and their transition back to school following treatment.
Childhood Cancer Awareness
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about fifteen thousand people under the age of 20 are diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States. The American Association for Cancer Research reports that the overall 5-year survival rate for pediatric cancers increased from 63 percent in the mid-1970s to 87 percent in 2015–2021. This improvement is largely attributed to decades of advances in treatment made possible through clinical research and participation in clinical trials. In addition to the challenges of treatment, childhood cancer can disrupt a child’s education and everyday life and create financial and emotional challenges for the entire family.
“Decades of research have led to significant improvements in pediatric cancer survival, but continued progress depends on access to clinical trials and the resources families need throughout treatment,” said Lori Willis, Executive Director of the Cancer Foundation. “We are proud to support Cottage Children’s Medical Center and Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation so that children and families in our community can access these resources close to home.”
For more information about Cottage Health’s pediatric oncology research and clinical trials, visit https://www.cottagehealth.org/childrens/outpatient/cancer-care-hematology/
For more information about Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation, visit https://www.teddybearcancerfoundation.org/
About the Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara:
The Cancer Foundation is an independent nonprofit and the exclusive fundraising partner of the Ridley-Tree Cancer Center. The Foundation strives to ensure that Ridley-Tree Cancer Center physicians and staff have the necessary means to positively impact patients on a daily basis while also providing funding to local organizations that offer additional services and care to patients. To learn more, visit the Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara at www.cfsb.org or find us on Instagram and Facebook.
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