THANK YOU NE FLORIDA! The 10th Annual Care-a-thon sets new fundraising record

Jacksonville, Fl. - August 22nd and 23rd celebrated the 10th annual Careathon, presented by Duval Asphalt, benefitting the Child Cancer Fund of Northeast Florida. 2024 also marked the 30th anniversary of the Child Cancer Fund. At least $345,000 was raised for Child Cancer Fund of NE Florida during the 36 hour broadcast.

104.5 WOKV broadcasted stories of courage, hope and survival - along with celebrity appearances and other surprises along the way. Since 2015, Careathon has raised more than $2 million for the Child Cancer Fund.

Monday Update:

Carla Montgomery from the Child Cancer Fund announced the final amount raised in the 2024 Careathon presented by Duval Asphalt was $345,688. Thank you to all the sponsors, donors, and volunteers for their generosity. You can support local pediatric cancer patients and families by donating to the Child Cancer Fund one-time, or monthly.

Careathon Day 2:

6p Update:

Carla Montgomery from the Child Cancer Fund announced the final amount raised by the Northeast Florida and Southern Georgia community was $332,606.

Thank you to all the volunteers, families who joined us to tell their stories, our sponsors who donated their time, money, and services, and those who donated throughout the last 2 days.

You can still make a one-time or recurring donation to the Child Cancer Fund and bid on the silent auction (until 12pm on Monday).

5:20p Update:

This is the FINAL hour of the 2024 Careathon. Duval Asphalt closes the afternoon by matching all donations up to $10k.

Carolina and her parents hold each other tight while sharing her journey surviving child cancer. They lean in to each other, and they lean in to the community around them, including the Child Cancer Fund.

4:55p Update:

Jax Therapy & Jax Center for Sexual Health is matching all donations this hour up to $10,000 in honor of Leo Stevenson who was 12 year-old and lost his battle with pediatric cancer this week.

Noelle Pomeroy talks about how this is one of her favorite days of the year and what Careathon means to her family.

Melanie (Mom) & Zion Bryant (9th grade) join Rich and Clark live to discuss his diagnosis with pediatric cancer. “It shattered my whole world”, shared Melanie, but the Child Cancer Fund eased the burden with their support and financial assistance.

“They’ve helped me pay bills, with gas cards to get my son back and forth to and from treatment. They’ve helped in so many ways.”

3:55p Update:

Clark Howard is back hosting and we are TRIPLING all donations made this hour thanks to Chick-Fil-A of Atlantic and Hodges.

With the triple match our final amount raised climbs to $273,544.

2:55p Update:

Erick Erickson pledged come back to Jacksonville on December 12th for a bourbon tasting event. The next 20 people who call in and donate $250 to the Child Cancer Fund will be invited to the event.

Dan Iracki and Rufus Pennington of Coker Law has been involved with the Child Cancer Fund for many years and joined the broadcast to match all donations up to $15,000 in the 2p hour.

Laura Hillburn from Chuy’s talked to Rich and Erick about their 7-year partnership with the Child Cancer Fund and the importance of the organization to them.

We closed the hour with a total donation amount of $259,758.

1:55p Update:

LesLea Ellison joined the broadcast. LesLea’s son, Kadesh, passed away from AML. He did bone marrow transplants, but unfortunately lost his battle in 2018. The Child Cancer Fund supported LesLea and her family with grief counseling and numerous other services through that difficult time 6 years ago.

Gate matched all donations in the 1p hour which brought our total amount raised to $241,419.

12:55p Update:

Erick Erickson hosted the 12p hour with Rich and were joined by Charlotte (5 years old) and Sara (Mom) Wheeler.

Charlotte entered the room dancing and proclaiming her love for Paw Patrol, and we even got a performance of the intro song live on-air!

Three years ago the doctors found a brain tumor that was too large to operate on, but she has been undergoing treatment since. The two shared their experience with the Child Cancer Fund and how they supported Charlotte and her siblings.

Duval Asphalt and Erick Erickson pledged to match all donations this hour and raised $223,643 total.

11:55a Update:

This hour we were joined by Lee Smith, Exec. Dir. of THE PLAYERS, Mike Ellis of Madden Advisory, and Michael Erhard from Nemours to talk about the importance of being involved in the community and what the Child Cancer Fund means to them.

The Players matched all donations this hour which brought our total amount raised to $204,578.

10:55a Update:

CMG VP and GM of Jacksonville Radio, Jimmy Farrell, donated $1k, which is now $2k thanks to Madden Advisory Services matching all donations in the 10a hour. Jimmy is also challenging other Jacksonville media companies to pick up the phone and donate to the cause.

Brynley’s mom, Heather Richardson, spoke with us while sitting with Brynley in the ICU, where this three-year-old is unfortunately near the end of her journey. Brynley is surrounded by family in her final days, and her family has the support of the Child Cancer Fund now and every day that will come.

Through treatment, through hardship, and through grief, the Child Cancer Fund is here for local families. Your donations mean that support continues for families, when they are most in need.

We closed the hour with $190,713 in donations raised.

9:55a Update:

Nimnicht Chevrolet is this hour’s sponsor, matching up to $7,500 of all donations made in the 9a hour. The total amount raised continues to grow as we close out the hour at $180,268.

Cambree and Stacey Hicks join us this hour to talk about their experience with the Child Cancer Fund. Watch their story here:

8:55a Update:

Phil Porter, Jr. of Subaru of St Johns Bluff and Atlantic joined the broadcast to encourage listeners to donate to Child Cancer Fund. Subaru is matching donations up to $20k in the 8am hour and has donated over $150k to the cause in the last 10 years of being part of Careathon.

Dex and Barbie T. join the WOKV broadcast and Barbie shares the story of her goddaughter who was diagnosed with pediatric cancer. Through her treatment she had two hip replacements, but is happy to share she is now a senior in high school.

Dex and Barbie T. also have an auction experience you can bid on at our silent auction.

The Players will be matching donations in the 8am hour up to $5k for 95.1 WAPE.

A total of $169,053 has been raised so far.

7:55a Update:

Carla Montgomery joins Equipment Services in the 7am hour as they match donations up to $10k. We closed out the hour at $136,538 raised.

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WOKV 2024 Careathon (Leece Hamilton)

4:55p Update:

Krista & Kacey Risher join Rich to talk about their 10 year journey with Child Cancer Fund. At the age of 5 Kacey’s leg was amputated due to her diagnosis and she has had 11 prosthetic legs since then. Even being 10 years out from her diagnosis, the Child Cancer Fund is still supporting her family. When Kacey was admitted to the hospital for an unrelated issue, the Child Cancer Fund was there every day with her favorite meal from Flame Broiler.

We closed out the hour by hitting a major milestone - $100,108 in donations to the Child Cancer Fund. Thanks to Miller Electric for matching all donations for the hour.

3:55p Update:

Feras Alkhatib part of the Amazon Jax7 (a merchandise warehouse in Jacksonville) made his radio debut to talk about what the Child Cancer Fund means to him. Feras told the story about his nephew who was born on April 15th and lost his battle to pediatric cancer on May 5th and has pledged to donate $6,000 annually to the Child Cancer Fund.

Greyson and Teri Pacifico join the broadcast along with Chip, Greyson’s service Frenchie. This November Greyson’s set to hit 3 years in remission. Greyson and Teri also started their own foundation to help assign support French Bulldogs to other pediatric patients.

Greyson and Teri discussed how the Child Cancer Fund provided tutoring services starting when he was in 6th grade and was diagnosed. Now Greyson is a sophomore in high school and continues to get high marks.

Mark Ambor, who you may have heard on 95.1 WAPE, also jumps on the mic before his live performance of “Belong Together”. He chatted about his debut album, Rockwood, and how music is a form of therapy for anyone.

The 3p hour closed at $98,433 raised for Child Cancer Fund.

2:55p Update:

Pamela Bowers & Kristin Saunders who are Clinical Social Workers joined the broadcast to talk about their experience working with families who’s lives have been uprooted by a child cancer diagnosis.

Dr. Andrew Stec, CMO of Nemours jumps on the broadcast for his first ever Careathon. He spoke about the importance of their partnership with the Child Cancer Fund and what it means to patients.

Lisa Schilling (Psychology) shared the importance of therapy animals that come to Nemours daily and provide support to patients while they are getting chemo and radiation treatment. These animals make a huge impact on the children’s health from lowering blood pressure, to easing the stress that comes with treatment.

The donations to Child Cancer Fund stand at $90,123.

1:55p Update:

Chief Meteorologist, Mike Buresh and Ryan Schmitt of Petticoat-Schmitt host the hour with Rich Jones and Carla Montgomery. Ryan elaborates on Petticoat-Schmitt’s “Digger Day” which invites local pediatric cancer patients the opportunity to come out and ride on their equipment. “It’s so rewarding for us, seeing those kids up on the machines.” He encourages other local businesses to get involved with the community and to donate to Careathon today.

Victoria Williams, now 20 years-old, and Dr. Anderson Collier join the broadcast.

Victoria shared how the Child Cancer Fund helped support her family with the support groups, encouraged friendships with other patients, and also reminisced about her trips to Camp Boggy Creek.

Dr. Anderson Collier also talked about some of the long term side effects of cancer treatments. There are 5,000 child cancer survivors in the U.S., but unfortunately there is also a high percentage of those children who will see a second form of cancer later in life.

Jack C Wilson Roofing called in with a $2,500 donation to close out the hour which brings our total amount to $85,503.

12:55p Update:

Matthew and Michelle Birt, join the broadcast to talk to Rich and Kristine about their son, Talen’s, journey with pediatric cancer. Matthew talked about how Talen was a huge Pittsburg Steelers fan and challenges Jaguar and Steelers fans to pick up the phone and out donate each other.

Michelle spoke about the financial strain that comes to families going through pediatric cancer. The Child Cancer Fund provided a ramp to their front door, serviced their car, paid their mortgage and other bills to keep the lights on, and so much more.

Melinda, owner of Chick-Fil-A on Hodges and Atlantic, also has a son who battled pediatric cancer and joined Rich and Chase for the second half of the hour. When talking about her son’s journey with cancer Melinda shared, “they said cancer was going to stunt his growth… now he’s 6′4″!

We now stand at $84,926 in donations raised so far today.

11:55a Update:

Steven Amburn from First Coast Music Therapy at Nemours and Josh, former pediatric patient, joined the broadcast. Josh spoke to Rich about his journey and all the opportunities the Child Cancer Fund provided for him and his family when they were going through treatment.

Josh reminisced about his trips to Camp Boggy Creek and how that experience benefits families in a multitude of ways. A $1,000 donations sends one camper to summer camp for one week and includes art supplies, transportation, lunches, and field trips taken.

17 year-old Josh also made a personal donation to the Child Cancer Fund to help the cause.

The new donation total stands at $80,601.

10:55a Update:

The 6th hour of Careathon continues as Former Mayor of Jacksonville, John Peyton, joined the broadcast along with tennis player, Mal Washington to share why they support Child Cancer Fund as a crucial service for our community.

Congressman John Rutherford and former Action News Jax anchor, John Bachman, hosted the second half of the hour. Yacht Rock Review stopped by to perform live for the Subaru Call Center before their concert tonight at Daily’s Place with Train.

The total amount donated to the Child Cancer Fund rises to $79,791.

9:55a Update:

Garrett Bedenbaugh and Clark Howard continue to join Rich Jones during the 36-hour live broadcast from Nemours Children’s Hospital.

Two year-old Wren joins the broadcast with her mom to tell their journey with battling leukemia and their experience with the Child Cancer Fund.

We closed the hour with a donation total or $71,536.

8:55a Update:

Care-a-thon continues in the third hour with Duval Asphalt matching donations. Clark Howard joins Rich Jones live on-air from Nemours Children’s Hospital to solicit donations from the Northeast Jacksonville community. The hour concluded with $62,028 in donations.