Cooper Trooper Foundation

CTF Courage Kits are available to any well sibling when a child is diagnosed with cancer in a family.  It can be requested through the Child Life Specialist at the hospital or via any individual on our website.  Each kit contains a Sibling Cooper Trooper t-shirt, courage medal,  "I'm a trooper" Awareness Bracelet, "Hi, My name is Jack" (a book specifically geared toward siblings of children diagnosed with a chronic illness to assist parents in helping their child deal with common emotions that arise when a sibling is diagnosed) OR an activity book/workbook geared toward older teens relating to the same areas, Journal & Pen, "Huggable Hope" stuffed duck (for younger than age 12), and a stress squeeze ball, along with informational brochures and resources for parents. All items are provided in a re-usable knapsack.

The Cooper Trooper Foundation is committed to financially funding pediatric cancer research through an endowed fund set up with Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.  Although, childhood cancer is the #1 killing disease of America's children, childhood cancer research only receives 4% of the National Cancer Institute budget and virtually no pharmaceutical research funds are allocated to childhood cancers.  The money given to the Endowment Fund is dedicated solely to pediatric cancer research for treatment and trials. The Cooper Trooper Foundation Pediatric Cancer Research Endowment Fund was established with a $100,000 financial commitment over a 5 year period.  In September 2015, this goal was met, one year in advance of the commitment deadline. As of Sept 2021, this fund has received a total of $375,000 from Cooper Trooper Foundation's fundraising efforts. Checks are presented to the hospital for this specific fund annually, and are determined by fundraising success.

In 2018, CTF agreed to a $100,000 commitment to fund a private family infusion/treatment room at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. The hospital is currently undergoing expansion and renovations to improve many areas of the hospital including Oncology. With this expansion, there are 10 rooms being designated as private rooms for a child to receive treatment, in which their family can be a part. Currently, clinic patients and those receiving infusion are crowded into one room together, along with other family members, and there is no privacy. This would provide the opportunity for a sick child and their family to more privacy when receiving treatment. CTF fulfilled it's $100K commitment in 2019, and while progress has been made with the expansion in the hospital, the specific infusion room with CTF name plate has not been complete due to construction holds with Covid-19.