ALEX’S LEMONADE STAND FOUNDATION SURPASSES $400 MILLION RAISED FOR CHILDHOOD CANCER RESEARCH

America’s Largest Independent Childhood Cancer Charity Reaches a Milestone Built by Families, Researchers, Survivors & Kids Paying It Forward

WYNNEWOOD, PA, UNITED STATES, October 28, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — KEY POINTS
• Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation has officially surpassed $400 million raised, a milestone that began with one four-year-old’s front yard lemonade stand in 2000 and has grown into the largest independent childhood cancer charity in the U.S. and a nationwide grassroots movement.
• Over 400,000 new children are affected by cancer every year; since ALSF’s first research grant, FDA-approved childhood cancer treatments have grown from 18 to more than 60, and U.S. survival rates have climbed from 77% to 85%.
• The milestone follows the most successful Million Mile in the campaign’s 14-year history: Over $2.8 million raised and over 960,000 miles logged by more than 11,000 participants during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Following a record-setting Million Mile campaign during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) the largest independent childhood cancer charity in the U.S., announced today it has officially surpassed $400 million raised. It traces back to a front yard where four-year-old Alex Scott, diagnosed with cancer before her first birthday, set up a lemonade stand because she wanted to help doctors find cures for kids like her. She raised $1 million before she died at eight in 2004. Her parents, Liz and Jay Scott, carried her wish forward, and one child’s stand became a nationwide grassroots movement.

Children alive today because of that research are carrying the mission forward. Many were diagnosed as infants and toddlers and spent months in treatment. They are thriving today because ALSF-funded research gave them a chance their doctors could not promise, and they are now setting up their own lemonade stands and logging their own miles in the name of a girl they never got to meet.

“Alex never got to see what her lemonade stand would become,” said Liz Scott, Alex’s mother and Co-Executive Director of ALSF. “But every child who survives today because of research we funded, every family who did not have to choose between treatment and rent, every researcher who kept working on a cancer deemed incurable: that is her legacy. She believed one person could make a difference and twenty-six years later, our supporters are still proving her right.”

THE REALITY OF CHILDHOOD CANCER

Childhood cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease for children under 20 in America. At least 15% of children diagnosed will not survive, and for the more than 500,000 survivors living in the U.S. today, at least 60% will develop a chronic health condition from their diagnosis and treatment. Globally, 90% of childhood cancer diagnoses occur in low-income countries, where survival rates can be as low as 20 to 30% for cancers considered highly curable in the United States.

A MOVEMENT NEARLY THREE DECADES IN THE MAKING

Since Alex’s first stand in 2000, ALSF has grown into a worldwide movement funding groundbreaking research, expanding access to treatment, and supporting families throughout their cancer journeys. In that time, ALSF has:

• Funded more than 1,500 research projects at over 150 institutions across North America and Europe, including the first-of-its-kind Childhood Cancer Data Lab, and earned the National Cancer Institute’s peer-reviewed funder designation.
• Committed $35 million through the Crazy 8 Initiative, uniting more than 100 leading scientists across eight collaborative teams to pursue cures for the hardest-to-treat childhood cancers, and awarded over 300 Young Investigator grants of up to $180,000 to early career scientists who might otherwise have left the field.
• Backed 240+ clinical trials annually that put new therapies within reach of children who need them now, across every type of pediatric cancer.
• Helped drive FDA-approved childhood cancer treatments from 18 to more than 60 and U.S. survival rates from 77% to 85% since 2005.
• Supported more than 15,000 families through programs including Travel For Care and SuperSibs, covering the costs of getting a child to treatment and supporting siblings through a diagnosis.
• Built enduring corporate partnerships that have turned everyday moments into millions for kids with cancer.
• Mobilized millions through signature nationwide campaigns including Lemonade Days, The Million Mile, L.A. Loves Alex’s Lemonade, Great Chefs Event Philadelphia, and Great Chefs Table: New York City, with its culinary community alone raising more than $27 million.
• Published its first-ever Childhood Cancer Report 2026, a free public resource bringing together critical data and research milestones.

That momentum was on full display this September, when ALSF’s 14th annual Million Mile raised over $2.8 million and logged more than 960,000 miles with more than 11,000 participants. $400 million is not a finish line; it is proof of what is possible when a movement refuses to stop, and a reminder that the work is far from over.

“From Alex’s first lemonade stand to reaching $400 million, this organization has always been powered by ordinary people who refused to accept that childhood cancer was someone else’s problem to solve,” said Jay Scott, Co-Executive Director of ALSF. “Every stand, every mile, every dollar has moved us closer to cures, and we are not stopping until every child has the chance to grow up.”

For media inquiries or to speak with ALSF representatives, please contact Jessica Buono of Pitch Parlor PR at jbuono@pitchparlorpr.com.

ABOUT ALEX’S LEMONADE STAND FOUNDATION:
Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) emerged from the front yard lemonade stand of 4-year-old Alexandra “Alex” Scott, who was fighting cancer and wanted to raise money to find cures for all children with cancer. By the time Alex passed away at the age of 8, she had raised $1 million. Since then, the Foundation bearing her name has evolved into a worldwide fundraising movement and the largest independent childhood cancer charity in the U.S. ALSF is a leader in funding pediatric cancer research projects across the globe and providing programs to families affected by childhood cancer. For more information, visit AlexsLemonade.org.
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Adam Paris
Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation
+1 866-333-1213
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