BOP Kids Walk for Kids with Cancer 2025 supporting Band of Parents

Band of Parents proudly presents the BOP Kids Walk for Kids with Cancer in Central Park. Founded in 2001 by Sophie Staples-Vangel, sister of Neuroblastoma warrior Simon Vangel, and her Packer Collegiate 8th grade classmates, the Kids Walk became the largest pediatric cancer event in NYC until becoming a casualty of Covid. Now Simon's family is partnering with Band of Parents to bring back this exciting event on Saturday, April 5, 2025.
The BOP Kids Walk is an opportunity to unite our community, raise awareness, and fund critical pediatric cancer research. Proceeds will fund critical neuroblastoma research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC).
The BOP Kids Walk for Kids with Cancer is all about YOU! Rally your classmates, form a team from your school, fundraise and join us for an unforgettable day supporting kids battling cancer. Earn community service hours, gain hands-on experience in philanthropy, and be part of something bigger. Join us and show what your school can do!
This walk is for all ages. Strollers, scooters and wagons welcome! Walk to honor a loved one, raise awareness, or enjoy a family-friendly day in the park. Here’s our schedule:
Snacks and refreshments will be provided throughout the day.
For every $250 you raise, you will receive a raffle ticket to put towards the prize of your choice! The more you raise, the more raffle tickets you will receive. Every step brings us closer to new treatments and a brighter future for kids fighting cancer.
Band of Parents is the top independent backer of neuroblastoma research at MSKCC. Our mission is to seek projects that have already been examined in the lab and are in need of assistance to rapidly move into a patient population. In the 1980s, fewer than 5% of children diagnosed with high risk neuroblastoma survived. Although today, most major medical centers have over a 50% survival rate, far too many children are still dying of this disease. The sad fact is that due to the high cost of research and the small number of children diagnosed annually, pediatric cancer is severely underfunded by both the pharmaceutical industry and the federal government. Less than 8% of the National Cancer Institute's funding goes to fight pediatric cancer. Together, we are bound by hope that a cure is out there. We will continue this fight until not a single child is lost to this disease.