After the gala ends: how a business keeps supporting kids with cancer all year

Steady beats spectacular

A business can support a childhood cancer charity all year by combining a small recurring gift with a few planned moments: a volunteer day, an awareness campaign in September, a family sponsored at Christmas, in-kind donations when the charity asks for them, and a table at the annual gala. Steady support matters more than one large gift, because families in treatment need help every month, not only in the month of the fundraiser.

I help connect businesses, donors and volunteers with Leia's Kids, a national 501(c)(3) based in McKinney that supports children and families facing childhood cancer through financial grants, Royal Deliveries, mental health retreats, the Hope Library, advocacy and Christmas support. Companies often first meet us at the Hope in the Kingdom gala. This guide is for the ones who leave that evening asking what they can do next.

Why the months between events matter most

Childhood cancer does not follow a fundraising calendar. Families apply for help when treatment moves to another city, when a parent loses hours or when child care costs pile up. At Leia's Kids, the grant application page says grants are awarded and distributed monthly, and that applications may be waitlisted depending on funding. Every month that has steady money behind it is a month the foundation can say yes to more families.

Steady support also does something for your company. A business that gives once and goes quiet tells its employees the cause was a marketing moment. A business that shows up through the year, with people as well as money, builds a habit that new hires notice and long-time staff take pride in.

There is a practical benefit for the charity's planning, too. A small organization that knows a set amount will arrive every month can commit to retreats, print runs and holiday plans with confidence. One that depends on a single evening has to guess. Your recurring gift turns a guess into a budget line, which is a quiet but real kind of help.

A simple calendar for a year of support

You do not need a foundation department to do this well. You need a few dates on the calendar and one person at your company who owns them. Here is a pattern that works for most small and mid-sized businesses. Adjust it to your season, your team and your budget.

• Every month: a recurring donation, even a modest one
• Early in the year: decide your gala level and Christmas commitment so they are budgeted
• Spring or summer: a team volunteer day planned with the charity
• September: a Childhood Cancer Awareness Month campaign with your staff and customers
• Fall: a table or sponsorship at the gala
• December: sponsor a family's Christmas dinner and gifts
• Any time: in-kind gifts from the wishlist or your own products

Recurring gifts and matching

A monthly gift is the least glamorous and most useful thing a business can offer. It costs little to set up, it lets the charity plan, and it keeps your company connected between events. Leia's Kids accepts donations online through its giving page, and a recurring gift can be set at whatever level fits your budget.

If you have employees, consider matching what they give. A match doubles the effect of each employee's gift and tells your team the company takes their causes seriously. Some businesses also tie giving to their own activity, such as a set amount for every project completed in a month. Choose something you can sustain and explain it plainly; a promise kept for years means more than a big one dropped after a quarter.

If you run a customer-facing promotion, such as a percentage of sales during September or a round-up at the register, be specific about it. Say exactly what portion goes to the charity, for how long, and then report the total when it ends. Customers respond to clear promises, and they remember the businesses that kept them.

Ready to plan your year?

If you want to build a year of support around your company's calendar, reach out. Tell me how many people you have, what your business makes or does, and what you can commit to, and I will help you sketch a plan: when to give, when to volunteer, which programs fit and how your team will hear about the results. A plan agreed in January is far easier to keep than good intentions in November.

Putting your people to work

Volunteer days give employees a direct connection to the families they are supporting. Teams can help prepare Royal Deliveries, the packages sent from Princess Marygold's Castle to children facing cancer, or help at events, including the gala itself. Leia's Kids has a volunteer and business partnership interest form on its website, and planning a day with the foundation ahead of time makes sure your group arrives to real work.

Businesses with young employees or interns can also point students toward the foundation's Junior Board, which invites high school and college students to become compassionate leaders, and its student internship. And if your company serves hospitals or clinics, there is a form to request Hope Library resources for a hospital, so families there can receive books and journals written for children facing cancer, including a grief journal for siblings.

Not every employee can take an afternoon away, and not every team works in the same building. Offer more than one way in: a packing day for those nearby, a wishlist drive for remote staff, a group that writes notes for children in treatment, or a few volunteers who help at the gala. Participation grows when people can choose a role that fits their schedule.

• Preparing Royal Deliveries as a team
• Helping at the gala or other foundation events
• A wishlist drive across offices or remote teams
• Requesting Hope Library resources for a hospital you serve
• Encouraging students and interns toward the Junior Board

September and December: two months that matter

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Leia's Kids has helped secure awareness proclamations from Texas cities, counties, the Texas Senate and the Governor, and the foundation's advocacy page notes that Texas recognized September 2, 2025 as Texas Day of Hope. For a business, September is a natural time to tell staff and customers about the cause, wear the color, run a giving campaign, or invite someone from the foundation to speak to your team.

December is the other anchor. Each year, Leia's Kids sponsors 20 families across North Texas with homemade Christmas dinners and gifts. Sponsoring one of those families is one of the most personal things a company can do, and it gives employees something concrete to rally around at the end of the year. Commit early, because the planning starts well before the holidays.

Giving what your business already has

Some of the most valuable support is not cash at all. A printer can produce event materials. A caterer, florist or venue can help with an event. A retailer can contribute items that fit a delivery. A professional firm can offer its expertise. Leia's Kids accepts in-kind donations through a form that records the items, quantity and total value, keeps an Amazon wishlist, and offers vendor sponsorship at the gala for businesses that give products or services. A gift of your own product or skill also tells your team something about the company: that what they make every day can matter to a family facing the hardest season of their lives.

The key is to ask before you give, so your gift matches a real need rather than filling a storage closet. I wrote more about choosing between money, items and volunteer time for exactly that reason.

Using your voice as well as your budget

Advocacy is the support that outlasts any single family's treatment. Leia's Kids supports federal legislation on childhood cancer, including the RACE for Children Act, which its advocacy page describes as requiring certain adult cancer drugs to be evaluated for pediatric cancers when appropriate, and the Childhood Cancer STAR Act, which the page says invests in research, improves data collection and strengthens survivorship programs. Founder Leia Hunt Toellner was invited to the White House Childhood Cancer Forum in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

A business does not need to take political positions to help. Sharing awareness messages in September, inviting the founder to speak, or simply telling your customers why your company supports this cause all raise its profile. You can also book Leia to speak through the foundation's website.

Keeping it going year after year

The companies that sustain support share a few habits. One person owns the calendar. Commitments are budgeted at the start of the year, not squeezed in at the end. Employees hear what their giving accomplished, through the foundation's annual impact report, a family story or a photo from the gala. And the business checks in with the charity once a year to ask what is needed next, rather than assuming.

Before you build a year around any cause, make sure it is one you can stand behind; I put the checks in how to verify a childhood cancer charity. If you are a Dallas–Fort Worth business and the gala is where you want to start, my guide on whether a gala sponsorship is worth it covers that first step. Then reach out, and we will plan the rest of the year together.

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