Press On Fund donates $1 million to research childhood cancer

*This article was originally posted in the Aiken Standard. 

The Press On Fund, which has local ties, recently donated $1 million to the Children’s Hospital of Georgia and the Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University.

The money will create the Press On Pediatric Cancer Fund at the Georgia Cancer Center and will support the Pediatric Immunotherapy Program.

Aiken residents Mark and Terri Rettig are among the four families that have teamed up to fight childhood cancer through the Press On Fund. “They are the littlest patients facing one of life’s biggest battles from a disease that can be deadly,” Mark Rettig said. “For those children undergoing treatment for brain cancer and other forms of cancer, we want to be their ally in this fight.” The others involved in the Press On Fund are the Chance, Crawford and Simkins families.

The Rettigs established the CAM Fund in 2015 after their grandson, Caiden Ash Murray, died in March 2014 after a tumor in his brain ruptured. Murray was only 2 years old. The CAM Fund’s purpose was to generate money for researchtofindinnovativetherapiesandcuresforchildrenwith brain cancer.

In November 2017, the Rettigs decided to merge the CAM Fund with the Press On Fund.

“I want the people donating to the Press On Fund or the CAM Fund to see the impact their money is making,” said Mark Rettig of the Press On Fund’s recent $1 million gift. “We are honored to keep Caiden’s memory alive through the CAM Fund, and we are certain Caiden would be proud of what we are doing to help other children.” Continue Reading…