Pediatric Brain Cancer Nonprofit, Lilabean Foundation, Hosts Junior Karting Invitational to Honor Late Racecar Driver, Age 12
Jessup, MD – The Lilabean Foundation (LBF), a nonprofit founded by a local mother to find safer, more effective treatments for pediatric brain cancer, will soon take to the racetrack to honor the legacy of Max Pound, age 12, for the Max Pound Junior Racer Invitational. Max, an elite youth racer who passed away in January 2023 from glioblastoma, is among approximately 4,000 children who are diagnosed annually with pediatric brain tumors – the deadliest form of cancer in children. The Lilabean Foundation aims to change outcomes for children with brain cancer by driving forward safer, more effective treatments in a space that’s currently dramatically underfunded.
WHAT: Max Pound Invitational
WHEN: Friday, April 14, 2023, 6-10pm ET
WHERE: Autobahn Indoor Speedway & Events
8251 Preston Court
Jessup, MD 20794
WHO: Nicole Giroux, Founder & Executive Director, Lilabean Foundation
Frank & Carol Pound, Parents of Max Pound
Donald Wagner, Integrator/V.P. Operations, Autobahn
WHY: The event is significant because:
Max Pound, who passed away in January 2023 at age 12, was an elite junior racer prior to his brain cancer diagnosis.
Brain tumors are the deadliest form of cancer in children, and are fatal to nearly 50% of those affected.
Approximately 11 children every day are diagnosed with malignant brain tumors.
Only 4% of the National Cancer Institute’s budget supports pediatric cancer research, and only 8% of that amount supports brain cancer research.
About 60% of all funding for drug development in adult cancers comes from pharmaceutical companies. For children, it’s almost none.
Current treatments for brain cancer were made for adults which cause detrimental side effects in children.
CONTACT: Sarah Lilly, sarah@lilabeanfoundation.com, 240.678.6549
Please call or text upon arrival
ABOUT THE LILABEAN FOUNDATION
The Lilabean Foundation was born out of heartbreaking times, when Nicole Giroux's daughter, Lila, was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer at the age of 15 months. While on a mission to save their daughter’s life, Nicole and Mike Giroux directed their energy and fear into a fight to change the landscape for the other 4,000 families that learn their child has brain cancer each year. As part of that mission, in 2022, LBF launched its LBF Heroes Pages, which feature the stories of children affected by pediatric brain cancer. Over the past 12 years, the Lilabean Foundation has raised over $4M, which has directly funded more than 10 research projects at The Brain Cancer Institute at Children’s National Hospital and supported the work of Children’s Brain Tumor Network.