Georgia Cancer Center hangs ribbons to observe Childhood Cancer Awareness Month: In photos

Sept. 1 marks the beginning of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. The Georgia Cancer Center traditionally hangs gold ribbons in front of the Children’s Hospital of Georgia to observe the month.

This year is a bit different, as patients and families are unable to participate in hanging the ribbons due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The gold ribbon represents childhood cancer. Ribbons could be hung to honor a child’s life or in memory of a child who did not survive his or her fight with cancer.

Katrina Keefer, Augusta University Health System CEO, and Dr. Colleen McDonough, Interim Section Chief, Department of Pediatrics Hematology and Oncology, went on Facebook Live to speak about the event.

“Childhood Cancer Awareness Month is here to bring awareness to childhood cancer, which is affecting more children every year,” McDonough said. “More than 15,000 children will be diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States.”

Cancer is the disease that kills more children than any other.

“However, with the innovation and research we do in the Georgia Cancer Center and the practices at the Children’s Hospital of Georgia, over 80% of childhood cancers allow children to lead healthy adult lives,” Keefer explained.

Click through the slideshow to see photos of this year’s ribbon hanging.