Quest to Cure is always creating fun and informative ways to get involved or help childeren focus on life, not pain. Below are several programs we have implemented to help you get involved for a very worthy cause. Quest to Cure Sickle Cell Foundation is a non-profit 501©3 organization. Our goal is to help children focus on life not pain. We are organized to meet the needs of individuals and families with sickle cell disease. We work closely with other organizations in Maricopa County in providing needed services to this population. Quest to Cure programs and services will contribute to the building of an inclusive community in this area. You can help us in our mission by volunteering your time, donation goods and services or by providing funds in the form of a personal or corporate grant.

• Summer Camp Program

The 2006 sickle cell summer camp program is a four-day out of state road trip. The camp will cater to sickle cell children between the ages of 7 and 16 years of age. Children with sickle cell disease are unable to participate in ordinary summer camps due to their limitations. Traditional summer camps ordinarily offer hiking in high altitudes, swimming, and many other activities which children with sickle cell are unable to participate in without a sickle cell awareness specialist to monitor.

• Mentor Me Program

The mentor me program was created to help enhance the life of all people who suffer from sickle cell disease. Quest to cure’s goal is to partner older sickle cell suffers with younger sickle cell patients. Our objective is to teach growth and developmental education, while building a youth community support system. The average sickle cell female puberty is usually delayed by several years. Menarche (beginning of the menstrual period) is also delayed. Males with sickle cell anemia maintain a lower average height and weight than those males with normal hemoglobin. This lower than average height and weight continues until late adolescence. Puberty is usually delayed by several years also. It is important to reassure the adolescents that they will eventually catch up with their peers.

• Bedside Buddies Program

Volunteers visit children/adults in the hospital. Bedside buddies will bring lunch, flowers, story time and parent relief for children and any personal items the patient may need.

• School Success Program

Sickle Cell children could potently miss a lot of classroom time; Academic grades among patients average less than C, even in children with a low frequency of hospitalization (averaging 17 days a year). Our program goal is to make contact with child’s school to insure all needed make up work is collected. A trained SC advocates can/will sit and helps with homework and return finished assignments to teacher at negotiated time.

• Support Group Referral Service

In assessing the seriousness of this disease, no one should underestimate its emotional and social impact. For the family, there is nothing more heartbreaking than to watch their child endure extreme pain and life-threatening medical conditions. The patient endures not only the pain itself but also the emotional strain from unpredictable bouts of pain, fear of death, and lost time and social isolation at school and work. Quest to Cure serves as a vehicle and referral service to support groups and social workers who are dedicated to providing emotional and psychological care to sickle cell sufferers and their families / caretakers.

• Community Awareness & Monthly Family fun Days

Education and public information are the most effective tools for increasing awareness of sickle cell disease. With television news and radio waves flooded with information on more popular health issues, sickle cell disease has been ultimately placed on the back burner. Quest to Cure has created an avenue where the community, supporters and suffers can come together to learn about sickle cell disease and interact with children and youths who suffer from sickle cell through; community activities such as picnics, health fairs, pizza party’s and family night out at the drive in. Quest to Cure volunteers distribute knowledgeable materials and make themselves available for any questions the community may have regarding sickle cell disease.

Our Mission: To help children with sickle cell focus more on life not pain, and to heighten awareness as it relates to sickle cell disease while bringing our sickle cell communities together.

To the left are some great ways to help
the Quest to Cure!

• Holiday Help
• Family Support
• Referral Program