Source: Assembly Republican Press Release
Legislation establishing the “New Jersey Pediatric Cancer Research Fund,” which allows taxpayers to make a voluntary contribution on their income tax return, was introduced by Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce today. Funds collected will support cancer research projects approved by the New Jersey State Commission on Cancer Research.
“One of a parent’s most traumatic experiences is learning their child has cancer,” said DeCroce, R-Morris, Essex and Passaic. “The causes of pediatric cancer still perplex the medical community, but we know the heartache it causes. Medical breakthroughs to treat this disease start with research.”
CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, a national non-profit organization dedicated to funding children’s cancer research, has noted that for the past 25 years there have only been two new drugs developed specifically for children’s cancer.
“As we have seen when catastrophe strikes, New Jersey’s citizens are most generous and compassionate,” explained DeCroce. “Through a voluntary check-off on a tax return, we can focus funding that is committed to researching causes and treatments for an affliction that affects children and brings anxiety and pain to their loved ones.”
DeCroce’s bill, A-4491, is in honor of a West Milford youth, Aaron Newton, who is a survivor of neurablastoma cancer. Aaron and his parents are advocates for increasing awareness regarding childhood cancer.
More children lose their battle to cancer than asthma, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, and pediatric AIDS combined. On average, one out of four elementary schools has a child with cancer. The average high school has two students who are a current or former cancer patient.
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