MUSTARD CHALLENGE FAQs
General Questions
What is the Mustard Challenge?On April 15th 2017, No More Kids with Cancer launched the "Mustard Challenge’. We’ve dared people to take part in a fun and entertaining act of recording themselves eating a spoon of spicy mustard and sharing their experience via social media. The Mustard Challenge’s goal is to raise awareness of our cause and encourage donations, funding research to discover safer, non-toxic and effective treatments for children with cancer. Why mustard? Today’s children are still treated with 1950s drugs based on the same chemical used in Mustard Gas, a weapon of World War I & II.
How do I participate in the Mustard Challenge?
1 ACCEPT: Accept the challenge.
2 PERFORM: Take a video of yourself eating a spoonful of spicy mustard. If you have a sensitivity to mustard – please use something else or donate!
3 SHARE Share you video to social media, tagging/challenging four of your friends to take the challenge.
4 DONATE: Make a donation to support No More Kids with Cancer.
Do I have to donate if I take the challenge?
No, you do not have to donate! By participating in the Mustard Challenge you’re already bringing awareness to the 1950s-era treatments and the critical need to accelerate research and increase funding. However, by making a donation, you will help accelerate and fund research to discover safer, non-toxic and effective treatments for children with cancer.
Do I have to be challenged to participate in the Mustard Challenge?
Absolutely not! If you want to take the Challenge, we encourage you to take the Challenge and start the chain in your community. Challenge your friends and family – the more people involved, the more we bring awareness to this issue and raise funds for research and better treatments.
What if I am allergic to mustard, should I not take the Mustard Challenge?
You can still take the Mustard Challenge, but please do not take the challenge with mustard! Take the challenge with something you have on hand but may not enjoy you – say a spoonful of mayonnaise, ketchup, or hot sauce. Or you can participate in the challenge by donating to the cause at www.mustardchallenge.com.
Who started the Mustard Challenge?
Amy and Hank Summy's daughter, Naya, passed away at the age of 11 from brain cancer. Naya raised a lot of money for childhoood cancer research and wanted her efforts to continue if she died. Honoring Naya's wish, Amy and Hank co-founded No More Kids with Cancer. Since the beginning, No More Kids with Cancer has raised significant funds for childhood cancer research, attracting top researchers, scientists, advocates and philanthropists to enable its impact. Also, 100% of donations have funded childhood cancer research. Amy and Hank developed the Mustard Challenge with their friends at Pure Growth to raise awareness and funds to enable research into safer, non-toxic and effective cancer treatments for kids.
How did the Mustard Challenge idea come about?
The genesis of the Mustard Challenge was a simple fact: Today, kids with cancer are still being treated with toxic chemotherapy drugs from as far back as the 1950s. Some of these drugs are based on the same chemical used in mustard gas, a weaponized vapor deployed during World War One. Ordinary household mustard was a perfect metaphor for this unacceptable fact. Inspired by the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, we’re challenging people to eat a spoon of spicy mustard in support of No More Kids with Cancer and/or make a donation. It’s simple, fun, easy to do, requires a bit of bravery. 100% of donations fund research, enabling the Mustard Challenge to genuinely make a difference to those who need it most.
Is Mustard Safe?
We're using mustard to shine a light on the old medicines that are being used to treat childhood cancer - including chemotherapy drugs derived from the same chemicals as mustard gas. To be clear, mustard is not related to mustard gas, and mustard is thought to have health benefits. However, we are not endorsing mustard or its health benefits. If you are sensitive to mustard, we encourage you to take the challenge with another food in your kitchen cabinet that's equally challenging, or simply donate to the cause!
How to Donate
How do I donate?You can donate at www.mustardchallenge.com or you can mail a check made out to No More Kids with Cancer and send it to P.O. Box 1427, Edgemont, PA 19028. You will receive your donation receipts in the mail within 30 days of delivery.
Can I direct my donation to go towards research?
100% of your tax deductible donation will be used to fund groundbreaking research to bring non-toxic and more effective treatments to children with cancer!
Why should I donate to No More Kids with Cancer?
The World Health Organization stats childhood cancer is reaching crisis levels. In the U.S., cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children. Yet, less than 4% of the annual budget for cancer research is allocated to childhood cancer. With only 3 drugs developed in the last 30 years, current treatments for children are from the 1950s.
No More Kids with Cancer believes that 1950s drugs for today's kids is unacceptable and that our children deserve better!
No More Kids with Cancer is a different type of charity. 100% of public donations go to groundbreaking childhood cancer research. Our founders and private donors fund our low operating costs to maximize the impact of donations from the public.
About No More Kids with Cancer
What does No More Kids with Cancer do?We are inspired by children with cancer, and our inspiration began with one special girl, Naya Summy. In 2013, Naya was diagnosed with brain cancer. She was nine. She endured two brain surgeries, intense radiation and chemotherapy, only to relapse one year after her diagnosis. A cure didn't exist for Naya. In less than two years, her disease overtook her body and her brightness and smile left our world. Even through her own suffering, her only wish was for other children: cure childhood cancer for future children.
Cancer kills more children than any other disease. However, only 4% of the National Cancer Institute’s research budget is dedicated to childhood cancer research and only 3 new drugs have been approved for children’s cancer treatment in 30 years. Therefore, most children are still treated with toxic drugs developed in the 1950s. To change this, we created No More Kids with Cancer and The Naya Foundation, a 501c3 charity (EIN 47-3573433).
We believe our children deserve better. We believe research will fuel the discovery of new drugs to help reduce cancer related suffering and death in children. We’re dedicated to raising money to fund groundbreaking research to discover non-toxic treatments for kids. 100% of donations go directly to research. We hope you can help us fight this important cause and change many children’s lives, for the better!
Donor Stewardship
Where does the money go?All (100%) of the money raised from the Mustard Challenge will fund groundbreaking research that leverages the latest understanding in cancer biology to bring safer, more effective and modern treatments to children with cancer. The research we fund will help children with cancer — and the doctors and researchers working to save them — who urgently need alternatives to the 50s-era, inhumane, side-effect-laden standard treatments used today.
Our Scientific Review Committee will seek projects and opportunities with a high potential of creating breakthroughs and safer treatments for children with cancer. We won’t fund just any project. We will seek to fund novel ideas, therapies and options that result in safer and more effective treatments.
We will actively seek to support high-potential early stage clinical trials (phase 0, phase I, phase II) or other clinical research (e.g. biomarker development, new imaging tools, etc.) targeting pediatric cancer. If we raise enough money, we will fund teams to accelerate the discover of new treatments for specific pediatric cancers, and even infrastructure to multiply the number of research trials that can be supported.
Can you give me a breakdown of how the 2017 Mustard Challenge proceeds will be allocated?
All (100%) of the money raised from The Mustard Challenge will fund groundbreaking research that leverages the latest understanding in cancer biology to bring safer, less toxic and more effective treatments for children with cancer. The research we fund will help children with cancer — and the doctors and researchers working to save them — who urgently need alternatives to the 50s-era, inhumane, side-effect-laden standard treatments used today.
The First $6 Million Funds a New, Collaborative Pediatric Brain Cancer Dream Team.
No More Kids with Cancer is collaborating with Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) to fund a new Pediatric Brain Cancer Dream Team. No More Kids with Cancer (NMKwC) will donate to SU2C up to a total of $6 million from the contributions made through the Mustard Challenge. SU2C will match the donation dollar-for-dollar up to a total of $6 million. The combined funds from NMKwC and SU2C will be used to fund a new, collaborative Pediatric Brain Cancer Dream Team. A scientific ‘Dream Team’ is made up of researchers in multiple disciplines and institutions to bring options to children faster. Dream Teams are accelerating cures and treatments in adult cancers today and the same model can be applied to children.
If the Mustard Challenge raises more than $6 million, amounts will be applied to additional groundbreaking research projects. Our Scientific Review Committee will seek projects and opportunities with a high potential of creating breakthroughs and safer treatments for children with cancer. We won’t fund just any project. We will seek to fund novel ideas, therapies and options that result in safer and more effective treatments.
We will actively seek to support high-potential early stage clinical trials (phase 0, phase I, phase II) or other clinical research (e.g. biomarker development, new imaging tools, etc.) targeting pediatric cancer. The projects can be one or a combination of the following: kick-starter grants between $100,000-$250,000; clinical trials between $250,000 - $1,000,000 or grants to early-career physician-scientists with novel ideas to cure childhood cancer averaging $100,000 - $250,000 per year; and larger grants which have the possibility to accelerate cures for a type of pediatric cancer, including another Dream Team.
Why should people donate to No More Kids with Cancer?
We created the Mustard Challenge to generate awareness for the lack of investment and resources given to finding a cure for childhood cancer. Here are some of the horrifying facts:
Childhood cancer is the #1 cause of death by disease in the U.S.:
- 1 in every 285 children in the U.S. will be diagnosed with cancer.
- Every 3 minutes, a child is diagnosed with cancer somewhere in the world. Over 300,000 children will be diagnosed with cancer each year.
- About 35% of children diagnosed with cancer will die within 30 years of diagnosis.
- Children with cancer are treated by drugs developed as far back as the 1950s.
- One of the most common treatments is derived from the same chemical used in World War I & II’s Mustard Gas.
- For 2015, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) budget was $4.93 billion. Childhood cancer research received less than 4% of that sum, with 96% focused on adult research.
- Only 3 new drugs have been approved for use in children cancer treatment in 30 years. Hundreds of drugs that have been developed specifically for adults.
Can you tell me if the people I challenged gave a gift?
We take our donors’ privacy seriously, so at this time, we are unable to provide you with the gift information requested.
I made a donation this morning, but haven’t received my receipt.
If you made a donation online, please give 24 hours for your receipt to be emailed to you. If you sent your donation via mail, please give 30 days upon delivery to receive your donation receipt. If you do not receive your receipt within those time periods, please email us at info@nayafoundation.org.
Research
How has No More Kids with Cancer accelerated children’s cancer research?No More Kids with Cancer started in 2015 and thanks to our great supporters, we have already been able to fund 7 projects, 2 clinical trials, supporting 15 childrens' hospitals. We continue to focus on funding research that has the potential to cure childhood cancers today. Click here to learn more about our research initiatives.
What is the strategy behind No More Kids with Cancer’s research program?
We serve children with cancer — and the doctors and researchers working to save them — who urgently need alternatives to the 50s-era, inhumane, side-effect-laden standard treatments used today. We focus exclusively on accelerating discovery of safe, effective, modern treatments for children with cancer.
No More Kids with Cancer is dedicated to backing groundbreaking translational research — such as genetic sequencing, precision medicine and clinical trials — that leverages the latest understanding in cancer biology to bring safer, and more effective treatments to children. Collaborating with leading scientists — who share our belief that more research leads to more options — we’re working toward our vision of No More Kids with Cancer.
Our mission is to discover non-toxic treatments and cures for pediatric cancer so children with cancer can live long and healthy lives. We achieve our mission by funding groundbreaking translational research that leverages the latest understanding of cancer biology – research that will create new treatments that save more children's lives.
How can I learn more No More Kids with Cancer’s research program?
You can learn more about our research program and initiatives here.
Other
I want to get involved in No More Kids with Cancer. What can I do?Getting involved is critical to changing the outcome for kids. By getting involved, you can change the status quo, and help overcome the hurdles that stand in the way of progress. Simple actions go a long way. We promise, once you get involved, you'll be a part of changing the status quo! Learn more ways that you can get involved – Click here.
I want my company to get involved, how do I do that?
There are a number of ways to get your company engaged in the Mustard Challenge. You can take the challenge together, or ask your company to donate to the cause. When you donate, be sure to check if you company will match your donation. To see if you employer matches donations, search there name here.
What else should I consider when taking the Mustard Challenge?
Individuals participating in the Mustard Challenge do so at their own election and at their own risk. All videos posted publically on social media are public content and available for use in No More Kids with Cancer’s Mustard Challenge promotional materials and on our webpage.