Hats Of Hope

09/22/2026

🎗️ SEPTEMBER IS CHILDHOOD CANCER AWARENESS MONTH 🎗️

For some families, gold is more than a color.

It represents a diagnosis they never imagined hearing. Hospital rooms. Scans. Surgeries. Chemotherapy. Radiation. Missed school days, sleepless nights, fear, hope, and children being asked to fight battles no child should ever have to face.

And childhood cancer doesn’t end when treatment ends. Survivors can face lifelong effects from both their cancer and the treatments that saved their lives.

The numbers matter:

🎗️ In 2026, an estimated 15,340 children and adolescents under age 20 will be diagnosed with cancer in the United States. (ACS CAN)
🎗️ Approximately 1,820 children and adolescents are expected to die from cancer this year. (ACS CAN)
🎗️ About 85% of children diagnosed with cancer now survive at least five years, but survival varies dramatically depending on the type of cancer. (American Cancer Society)
🎗️ Cancer remains a leading cause of death from disease among children in the United States. (Cancer.gov)

Behind every statistic is a child.

A child who wants to play baseball. Go to school. Hang out with friends. Celebrate birthdays. Grow up.

Behind that child is a family whose entire world changed with a few words.

Hats of Hope was born from one of those journeys. What began with a 10-year-old boy wanting to provide hats to other kids going through cancer treatment has grown into a mission of advocacy, resources, comfort, and financial support for patients and families affected by cancer.

This month, we ask you to GO GOLD. 💛

Wear gold. Share their stories. Support childhood cancer organizations. Advocate for research. Remember the children we have lost. Celebrate the warriors still fighting and the survivors navigating life after cancer.

Most importantly, don’t stop talking about childhood cancer when September ends.

Because these kids deserve more than awareness.

They deserve a future. 🎗️

Never give up. Never give in. You are a warrior!

— Hats of Hope 💛

Accurate, up-to-date, comprehensive cancer information from the U.S. government's principal agency for cancer research.

09/09/2026

💛 WAYNEDALE WENT GOLD FOR GIO! 💛

We wanted to give a HUGE shoutout to the amazing staff at Waynedale who showed up in GOLD for Gio on Friday! 🎗️💛

Waynedale celebrated Spirit Week last week, and Friday was extra special as everyone was encouraged to Go Gold for Gio and Childhood Cancer Awareness! Seeing so many teachers and staff members decked out in gold and standing behind one of their own was pretty incredible.

This is what community looks like. This is what Waynedale does. 🐻💛

Thank you to every staff member who participated, wore their gold, and helped remind Gio and his family that they have an entire community fighting right alongside them.

Go Gold. Fight Hard. Never Give Up. 💛🎗️

09/05/2026

💛 THANK YOU! 💛

A huge thank you to everyone who came out last night and supported the Nofsinger family by purchasing raffle tickets, buying Gold Fight Win shirts , donating, and simply showing up to surround Gio and his family with so much love. 🎗️💛 We are incredibly grateful for a community that continues to show up in such a BIG way!

And I don’t know who the sweet soul was who snuck this little rock onto the table beside me last night, but thank you. 🥹💛 One side says “Tackle Cancer” and the other says “Stay Strong,” surrounded by yellow childhood cancer ribbons. Such a small gesture, but one that meant more than you probably realized.

Every ticket. Every donation. Every kind gesture. It all matters. 💛

09/01/2026

The behind the scenes of childhood cancer. 🎗️

There are the pictures you see.
The gold ribbons. The brave smiles. The bell ringing. The words warrior and fighter.

And then there is the part you don’t see.

The moment someone tells you your child has cancer.

For me, it was sitting alone with my 9-year-old son during COVID, trying to process words no parent is ever prepared to hear.

At first, there is shock.

Then devastation.

Then the questions start racing through your head.

What is wrong with my child? How did this happen? Did I miss something? Could I have done something differently?

The guilt is haunting.
The fear is crippling.

And before you even have time to understand what is happening, decisions have to be made.

Emergency brain surgery.
Radiation.
Chemotherapy.

Decisions that could save your child’s life while also potentially changing it forever.

Meanwhile, there are other children at home who still need their mom and dad. A family suddenly split between hospitals and home. Everyone scared. Everyone trying to understand something that doesn’t make sense.

And somehow, you have to look at your child and make them believe you aren’t scared.

You tell them, “You’re going to be okay.”

Even when you have absolutely no idea if that’s true.

Then treatment begins.

You watch your child become incredibly sick from medicine that you know has to make him sick in order to hopefully save his life.

You watch poison drip into his body and silently beg it to kill the cancer without taking too much of your child with it.

And people mean well.

They tell you, “It’s going to be okay.”

“When treatment is over, things will go back to normal.”

But that’s one of the things we don’t talk about enough during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

There isn’t always a “back to normal.”

Treatment ends, but childhood cancer doesn’t simply disappear from a family’s life.

There are scans. Appointments. Late effects. Worries about things you never knew existed before cancer. There are ordinary headaches or symptoms that can send your mind somewhere terrifying in seconds.

Years later, the fog lifts a little.

The horror isn’t quite as loud.

But if I’m being completely truthful, the fear never completely disappeared for me.

And yet…

the most beautiful life came after cancer for my boy.

He is thriving.

He is smart.

He laughs.

He has friends.

He plays the sports he loves.

He gets to just be a kid.

And after everything cancer tried to take from him, watching him live his life is one of the most beautiful things in the world.

This isn’t written for sympathy, and it isn’t really about me.

It’s about showing the part of childhood cancer that doesn’t always make it into the awareness posts.

Childhood cancer is traumatic.

For the child.
For their siblings.
For their parents.
For the entire family.

And survivorship is beautiful—but it can be complicated, too.

So when you see gold this September, please understand what that ribbon represents.

It represents children fighting battles they should never have to fight.

It represents families trying to hold themselves together while their entire world has been turned upside down.

It represents children who survived and are learning how to live with what treatment left behind.

It represents children who should still be here.

And it represents hope.

Because behind all of the fear, trauma, scars and uncertainty…

there are kids like my boy who are out there living one hell of a beautiful life. 🎗️💛

That is why we Go Gold.

08/31/2026

🎗️💛 LET’S TURN SOCIAL MEDIA INTO A SEA OF GOLD! 💛🎗️

Tomorrow marks the beginning of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and we want to see GOLD everywhere!

One of the easiest ways to help spread awareness? Change your profile picture for the month of September! 💛🎗️

Feel free to use and share any of our graphics below — save one, make it your profile picture, share it to your story, or post it on your page. Then encourage your friends and family to do the same!

Imagine opening Facebook tomorrow and seeing profile picture after profile picture covered in GOLD for the kids who are fighting, the families walking beside them, and the children we will forever remember. 💛

Every share. Every profile picture. Every conversation.
It all helps bring awareness.

🎗️ GO GOLD this September.
Let’s turn social media into a sea of gold! 💛

08/31/2026

💛🎗️ SHIRT PICKUP REMINDER! 🎗️💛

Just a quick reminder — Thread & Ink will be contacting you this week with pickup details! 📲

All shirts will be ready before the game this Friday! 🏈💛

A HUGE kudos and thank you to the amazing staff at Thread & Ink for working hard to make this possible and getting everything ready in time. We appreciate you more than you know! 👏💛

We can’t wait to see everyone GO GOLD FOR GIO! 🎗️💛

08/30/2026

🎟️💛 RAFFLE TICKETS ARE LIVE! 💛🎟️

Check out just SOME of the amazing raffle items available for our Gold Out Game for Gio! 🎗️✨

Want to get a head start before Friday night? Pre-sale raffle tickets are OPEN NOW! 🙌

And we’re not done yet 👀 — we’ll be adding even more goodies throughout the week, so keep checking back!

Every ticket purchased helps us rally around Gio and the Nofsinger family during his cancer treatment. 💛

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/gold-fight-win-for-gio

🎗️ GOLD FIGHT WIN! 🎗️

08/28/2026

💛🎗️ THE GOLD OUT FOR GIO RAFFLE IS LIVE! 🎗️💛

We’ve already started uploading some of our AMAZING raffle baskets, and trust us… we’re just getting started! 👀✨

More baskets,and goodies will be added throughout the week, so make sure you keep checking back!

🎟️ You can PRE-BUY your raffle tickets NOW!
Purchase your tickets ahead of time, then get ready for an incredible night at the Gold Out for Gio game on September 4th — Waynedale vs. New London! 🏈💛

Every ticket purchased helps us rally around Gio Nofsinger and his family while we come together to honor children affected by childhood cancer. 🎗️

💛 Wear Gold. Show Up. Make an impact!

08/18/2026

I am currently looking for an individual/individuals to contribute filler items for the following Baskets:

Movie Basket ( This will include 4 movie tickets and a $25 gift Card to The Lyric Theater)

Ideas for filler: Popcorn bucket, Candy, Drinks

Also fillers for a Family Fun Basket - Thinks games or family fun night

Fillers for a book lover basket to go along with a Blind date with a book