Before Olivia was diagnosed with brain cancer I was completely unaware of the truth about childhood cancer. I knew that kids could get leukemia but I thought it was incredibly rare. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that my daughter would be one of the 330 kids that are diagnosed with cancer each and every year in the U.S. Or that she would be one of the seven to twelve children that pass away every day because of pediatric cancer. I had no idea and neither do a lot of other people.

This lack of awareness has to change to be able to get the research funding so desperately needed to find a cure. Probably 99% of us know what the pink ribbon stands for, but very few of us have any idea that the gold ribbon is for our children. You can help us change this by helping us paint the world gold.

What are some ways that you can help? First, talk to your family, friends and neighbors about the truth about childhood cancer. Wear gold in September. Donate to pediatric cancer research and ask your friends and family to do the same.

You can also help by signing one of the petitions circling the Internet on behalf of childhood cancer awareness. You can view and sign them here:

Ask the White House to go gold in September 2014: click here

Ask the NFL/MLB to wear gold in September 2014: click here

It only takes a minute of your time to sign these petitions and share them. If we are able to get these goals accomplished, that would be a giant step forward in achieving greater awareness of childhood cancer.

Our children deserve a lot better than the 4% of the National Cancer Institute’s total budget that pediatric cancer research gets every year. Let’s paint the world gold this coming September and win this fight to find a cure.

The Olivia Caldwell Foundation is a pending 501c3 nonprofit that raises money for pediatric brain cancer research. Brain cancer is the leading cause of death by cancer in children under the age of 20. Learn more and donate at www.oliviacaldwellfoundation.org.