The Ace Hardware Foundation announces fifth-annual Ace Cares for Kids All-Star
St. Louis child Roxie Schopp named “All-Star” at special Parkway School District event
The Ace Hardware Foundation is pleased to name local St. Louis child, Roxie Schopp, the organization’s fifth-annual Ace Cares for Kids All-Star. Today, the Ace Hardware Foundation, along with representatives from Ace Hardware retail stores and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals® (CMN Hospitals) of Greater St. Louis – surprised Roxie Schopp at a surprise school assembly in front of classmates, teachers and friends. The event was held at Ross Elementary School, part of the Parkway School District.
As Ace’s fifth-annual Ace Cares for Kids All-Star, Roxie will become the national ambassador for the Ace Foundation, raising awareness for the excellent work that is done at CMN Hospitals across the country. Through the support of Ace’s vendor partner Duracell, the Ace Cares for Kids program enables Ace stores to raise funds for their local CMN Hospital using Roxie’s face and story as inspiration.
The Schopp family knows all too well the amazing care provided by their local CMN Hospitals. At the age of three, Roxie was diagnosed with Stage IV High Risk Neuroblastoma with MYCN amplification, an aggressive pediatric cancer of the peripheral nervous system; she was only given a 35 percent chance of survival. Over the course of 17 months, Roxie went through an aggressive, multi-therapeutic regimen to treat her disease. Roxie’s treatment plan included surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, a bone marrow transplant and immunotherapy.
Following frontline treatment, Roxie was immediately enrolled in a two-year trial study at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital designed to combat High Risk Neuroblastoma’s 50 percent chance of relapse (of which there is no known cure). After successfully completing the trial, Roxie’s journey with CMN Hospitals continues, as she will remain an ongoing patient of The Late Effects Program at St. Louis Children’s Hospital’s through early adulthood. Today, Roxie is a thriving third-grader with no evidence of disease.
“We are thrilled to welcome Roxie into the Ace All-Star family,” said Kane Calamari, President of the Ace Hardware Foundation. “Roxie’s strength, courage and selflessness are just a few of the characteristics that exemplify why she is the perfect Ace All-Star. Together, Roxie and her family, have transformed their extraordinary challenges into a platform to raise awareness for childhood cancers and generate valuable funds for research.”
“We are honored to have Roxie selected as the Ace All-Star and know she will inspire others,” said Krista Lucy, Executive Director of Children’s Miracle Network of Greater St. Louis. “It’s her fierce determination during her battle with cancer that drives her to want to help kids in the hospital.”
Roxie was selected by the Ace Foundation following a nationwide campaign that gave every Children’s Miracle Network Hospital an opportunity to nominate a deserving patient. As the fifth-annual All-Star for the Ace Cares for Kids Program, a $10,000 donation from Duracell will be made to CMN Hospitals of Greater St. Louis in Roxie’s honor. In addition, Roxie and her family will be treated to an all-expense paid trip to attend the CMN Hospitals’ annual conference in Walt Disney World. Throughout the year, Roxie will make special appearances and will be treated to exciting surprises from Ace Hardware.
As a proud supporter of CMN Hospitals, Ace Hardware has been dedicated to raising funds for children’s hospitals all across the country, including St. Louis Children’s Hospital and SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. Over the past 25 years, the Ace Foundation has raised more than $80 million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
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As the official charitable division of Ace Hardware Corporation, the Ace Hardware Foundation helps enhance the vision of being the “Helpful Place” in local communities across the country and around the globe through charitable giving. The Ace Foundation provides support and philanthropic opportunities to its consumers, retail store owners, vendors and team members to give back to local communities through fundraising efforts for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and American Red Cross Disaster Relief.
About Ace Hardware
For more than 90 years, Ace Hardware has been known as the place with the helpful hardware folks in thousands of neighborhoods across America, providing customers with a more personal kind of helpful. In 2016, Ace ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Home Improvement Retail Stores, Ten Years in a Row," according to J.D. Power. With more than 4,900 hardware stores locally owned and operated across the globe, Ace is the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the world. Headquartered in Oak Brook, Ill., Ace and its subsidiaries currently operate 17 distribution centers in the U.S. and also have distribution capabilities in Ningbo, China; Colon, Panama; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Its retailers' stores are located in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and approximately 60 countries. For more information on Ace, visit acehardware.com or visit our newsroom at newsroom.acehardware.com.
About Children's Miracle Network Hospitals
Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals® raises funds and awareness for 170 member hospitals that provide 32 million treatments each year to kids across the U.S. and Canada. Donations stay local to fund critical treatments and healthcare services, pediatric medical equipment and charitable care. Since 1983, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals has raised more than $5 billion, most of it $1 at a time through the charity's Miracle Balloon icon. Its various fundraising partners and programs support the nonprofit's mission to save and improve the lives of as many children as possible. Find out why children's hospitals need community support, identify your member hospital and learn how you can Put Your Money Where the Miracles Are, at CMNHospitals.org and facebook.com/CMNHospitals.
