Author: will

Well, I’m late again. My goal of updating the blog on the 8th of every month isn’t going so well. But, better late than never. I should probably work on September’s post as soon as I publish on this one.

The big event of August was our 3^rd annual skydiving event. Here’s a bit of the backstory of how the D-Feet Cancer skydiving event came about. When Dalton was twelve and very sick, he told me he would like to go skydiving. I reached out to our local skydiving business but learned skydivers needed to be 18 y/o. I told Dalton and didn’t think much about it again. Skydiving was one of the many things he never got to experience. A few months after he passed, I was talking to the co-owner of Skydive Suffolk. She knew my brother James and asked me how we could get him to jump out of a plane. I quickly told her that James and no interest whatsoever in skydiving but then thought “unless.”  If we turned James’s skydiving into a fundraiser – then maybe he would jump. Laura liked that idea, so I soon asked James. My youngest brother quickly replied he really didn’t want to skydive but then said, “I’ll do it for Dalton.”  Six months or so later, we held the first D-Feet Cancer skydiving event. True to his words, James wasn’t exactly thrilled with jumping, but he took the plunge and was met with a cold Miller Lite upon landing.

To read more about D-Feet Skydiving, feel free to click on this link: https://www.suffolknewsherald.com/2025/08/07/skydive-to-d-feet-cancer-raises-thousands-for-pediatric-cancer/

To watch the local news story on our unconventional fundraising efforts, please click here: https://www.wavy.com/news/d-feet-cancer-raises-thousands-of-dollars-at-skydiving-event-for-pediatric-cancer-research/

September is pediatric cancer awareness month. We would love to see homes lit up with gold light bulbs in honor of kids who have fought and are fighting cancer. If you light up your house gold or wear gold for kids like Dalton, take a picture and send it to info@DFeetCancer.org. The Fox Household will be illuminated with gold lights along with one neon green light in honor of D and all the kids, past and present, like him.

Finally, we have the 4^th annual D-Feet Cancer Golf Tournament coming up on Friday October 10^th at Red Wing Lake Golf Course in Virginia Beach. Click on the “Events” tab at DFeetCancer.org (https://dfeetcancer.org/events/) to learn more. The event is held on a Friday afternoon so take a half day off work and come join us for a good cause.

Thanks for all of your support.

Will

Happy summer everyone. There is a bit of a lull between Dalton’s Dash in May and skydiving in early August. I’ll talk skydiving at the end of the post, but I thought I’d share a Dalton story first.

Summer was always a favorite time of Dalton’s. He loved to swim and with a community pool about 300 yards down the street from our house, Dalton loved the water and especially going off the 3-meter “high dive.” D was first diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma in March of 2018. Two months later, after he had gone through a few rounds of chemotherapy, Dalton’s head closely resembled my own. In fact, we often sat together in the hospital and compared “survivor hairs.” Both of us thought it was strange that a few hairs, somehow, survived chemotherapy – or in my case age. D was also very generous and told me that I wasn’t bald since I had hair on the sides of my head. I love that boy and his kindness. Anyway, D had just finished five days of in-patient chemotherapy and was ready to break-out of CHKD for the long three day Memorial Day weekend. The next day would be the unofficial start of summer and the opening day for our neighborhood pool. Just before discharge, Dalton looked at me and asked about swimming. He said he would love to go swimming but didn’t want the other kids to laugh at him for having no hair. I thought for a few seconds and responded that he had two choices. He could wear a hat all summer and avoid the inevitable stares and laughs but not really get to enjoy the pool by going of the high dive and exploring underwater. Or, he could take his hat off at the pool the next day, endure a few stares and snickers, but then get to enjoy all the pool has to offer all summer.

The next morning, Dalton and I were at the pool just before it opened at 11 AM. D loved to be the first kid in the pool each year. As the clock reached 11 AM, Dalton pulled off his baseball hat and jumped it. A few kids smirked and pointed throughout the day and weekend, but the other swimmers quickly got used to seeing a very hydrodynamic scalp cutting through the water. No swim cap needed! Apart from a little extra sunscreen on the top of his head, Dalton had a very enjoyable and normal summer at the pool that year. In fact, after the summer ended, Dalton continued to feel comfortable sans hat. We’ve even had a few cancer parents tell us that after seeing bald and beautiful Dalton walking around the hospital, it convinced their child to be more at ease with their temporary lack of hair. It’s seven years later and every Memorial Day weekend I think of Dalton sitting beside the pool in a baseball hat waiting for it to open. We should all worry a little bit less about what everyone else is going to say and just enjoy life. Dalton certainly did that summer.

In our continuing efforts to have kids like Dalton enjoy more than twelve summers, D-Feet Cancer does have another event fast approaching on August 3rd. Dalton wanted to skydive but never got the chance – so we turned it into a fundraiser. On Sunday August 3rd, we’ll be holding our 3rd annual Skydive to D-Feet Cancer event. You can read more about it at the link below. If you have ever wanted to try skydiving, sign up and jump with us. I’m scared of heights but “did it for Dalton” my first time and actually liked it. If you have zero interest in jumping, feel free to find a jumper you would like to support and donate to their jump. We ask that each jumper raise a minimum of $500 so you can even pick someone and get them closer to being jump eligible. Everyone is also invited to come out to Skydive Suffolk on August 3rd and watch D-Feet supporters fall from the sky. We’ll have a food truck, games, merch, snacks, and even adult beverages. Just shoot an email to info@DFeetCancer.org with any questions and Jen or I will get back in touch with you.

Check out the event here:

https://secure.givelively.org/donate/d-feet-cancer-the-dalton-fox-foundation/skydive-to-d-feet-cancer-2025

Thanks for reading, have a great July, and thank you for your continued support of D-Feet Cancer and pediatric cancer research.

Will

Well, I’m not know for my punctuality. For the third month in a row, I’ve missed my deadline of updating the blog on the 8th of the month. I’ll try again next month but better late than never.

D-Feet Cancer has had a pretty busy last month or so. Our 4th annual Dalton’s Dash 5K was great. The weather was much better than last year and we had almost 200 runners come out to get a little exercise, have a good time, and support pediatric cancer research. I finished in fourth place but the combined ages of the first three finishers added up to my age so I felt pretty good with that result. As has become tradition, I hopped over the finish line on my right foot as a tribute to my buddy who was missing his left leg.

Literally as soon as the 5K ended, Jen, Rachel, and I we off to a charity high school baseball game with our home team Cox Falcons visiting the Great Bridge Wildcats. Interacting with the players was definitely the highlight of our afternoon. Dalton loved playing baseball and actually played with a few of the current high school players so it was heartwarming to be received so warmly. About a week later, D-Feet Cancer had a fundraiser at Wasserhund Brewing Company. It was a fun night although we needed Dalton there to help answer some of the more challenging Marvel trivia questions.

Finally, last week, Jen and I got to write another funding check. Dr. Chris Kuo from the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. Dr. Kuo is researching Ewing Sarcoma using zebrafish and D-Feet’s grant of $97,500.08 will fund his research for a year. This most recent grant brings our funded research total to $430,000 in three years. These grants wouldn’t be possible without all of our supporters. Thank you for helping us help kids like Dalton.

The next big D-Feet Cancer event is skydiving. For those of you who don’t know the story, Dalton asked to skydive when he was twelve. I called our local skydiving facility and learned jumpers have to be 18 y/o or older, so D never got to jump. Since Dalton couldn’t skydive, Jen and I decided we would jump for him and turned the activity into a fundraiser. This was a big step for me personally since I’m terrified of heights. But, I thought, if Dalton could endure what he went through, I could face my fears and jump out of a plane. So I did and actually liked it. On Sunday August 3rd, we will hold our 3rd annual Skydive to D-Feet Cancer. We ask participants to raise at least $500 from family and friends. Most post on social media and link to their skydiving fundraising page. All qualified jumpers then tandem jump (you’ll meet a new friend that day) on Sunday August 3rd according to their scheduled jump time. We treat the day like an all day party and have a DJ, food trucks, snacks, refreshments, and a few adult beverages to enjoy post jump. We are hoping to have sixty jumpers this year and have Skydive Suffolk close to all other tandem jumpers that day. For more information, our skydiving link is below. Potential jumpers can create their own fundraising page and then remain independent, join an existing team, or create a new team. Just email info@DFeetCancer.org if you have questions or would like some help registering. For those of you who choose to remain on the ground, you are welcome to come watch us fall from the sky on August 3rd and/or donate to a jumper at the link below.

https://secure.givelively.org/donate/d-feet-cancer-the-dalton-fox-foundation/skydive-to-d-feet-cancer-2025

Finally, congrats to the class of 2025 and Happy Father’s Day to all dads out there. Thanks for being a part of D-Feet Cancer. Jen and I truly appreciate all of your support over the past 3+ years.

Funding Updates

I had the pleasure last week of writing a check for $50,000.08 to support year two of the Better Ewing Sarcoma Treatment (BEST) research led by Dr. Sorensen. This is our second year of funding Dr. Sorensen’s research. D-Feet Cancer has also agreed to fund our third research project into Ewing Sarcoma. Led by Dr. Kuo is Los Angeles, this research will investigate the tumor microenvironment of Ewing sarcoma utilizing a novel genetic zebrafish model. Our $100,000 commitment will fund Dr. Kuo’s research for a year and bring D-Feet Cancer to a total of almost half a million dollars of funded research. A giant thank you for all of your support.

Dalton’s Dash:

The 4th Annual Dalton’s Dash 5K is scheduled for May 17th. Thankfully, the weather is looking much drier than last year. Come join us, either in person or virtually, for a fun neighborhood walk/run. We will have The Bagel Baker food truck, DJ Steve, a raffle table, and D-Feet Merchandise, and other fun activities. We’ve got a lot of great raffle items and still have a few spaces for late registrations. You can read more about Dalton, the race, and register here: https://runsignup.com/Race/VA/VirginiaBeach/DaltonsDash5k

Wasserhund:

Soon after Dalton’s Dash, we’ll have a fundraiser at Wasserhund Brewing Company on Laskin Rd. in Virginia Beach. Join us for 5-10 PM on Tuesday May 27th. Dalton was a huge fan of Marvel movies so we are planning a Marvel trivia contest that night in D’s honor. Marvel trivia will start at 7 PM. Swing on by Wasserhund the Tuesday after Memorial Day and grab a beer, some dinner, or both and help fund pediatric cancer research.

Skydiving:

Registration for 2025 D-Feet Cancer skydiving is now open. We’ve already got a team of 10 plus nurses from CHKD raising money and getting ready to jump on August 3rd with us. Our goal this year is to register 60 jumpers and close down Skydive Suffolk for the day. If you know anyone who would like to spice things up and jump out of perfectly good plane while helping kids with cancer at the same time, check out the link below. https://secure.givelively.org/donate/d-feet-cancer-the-dalton-fox-foundation/skydive-to-d-feet-cancer-2025

In Closing:

May is a complicated month here at D-Feet Cancer headquarters. We’ve got Dalton’s Dash, Wasserhund night, and Memorial Day coupled with warmer temperatures and a return from college. But there is also the constant reminder of a life cut way too short. Dalton’s seat is empty at every meal – including Mother’s Day. May 25th is also the four-year anniversary of Dalton’s passing. There are too many dinner tables with empty chairs and too many “bad” anniversaries because of cancer. Thank you for helping Jen and I keep our promise to our soon and enabling us to fight this disease on D’s behalf. Enjoy Spring with your families and thank you for supporting D-Feet Cancer.

Since starting D-Feet Cancer over three years ago, Jen and I have learned a lot. With help from our dedicated Board and other volunteers, we’ve run golf tournaments, 5K, dodgeball tournaments, a gala, and even jumped out of a perfectly good plane – twice. As D-Feet Cancer approaches half a million dollars of research funded, we want to continue to learn and improve. One of the areas we would like to improve upon is our communication with our supporters. Our “quarterly” email hasn’t exactly been published quarterly consistently. So, I’ve committed to updating the blog post here on DFeetCancer.org monthly. I’ll use the blog post to comment on events, funding opportunities, upcoming fundraisers, and the general state of D-Feet Cancer. Since Dalton’s favorite number is eight, I’ll update the blog on or around the 8th of each month. In true Will style, I’m already a day late but I’ll try to do better in the month’s to come.

Gala:

2025 began with a bang as we held the first ever D-Feet Cancer gala at the Granby Theater in Norfolk, VA. As the doors opened at 6, Jen nudged me and said “I can’t believe we are holding a gala.” To say the night was fantastic is an understatement. Around 200 supporters joined us and raised over $70,000 that will directly fund pediatric cancer research. The gala was the most profitable D-Feet Cancer event to date. Jen and I were both excited and amazed at the generosity of our guests. As a bonus, we both took time to enjoy the evening and all the great people united behind a worthy cause. On the heels of such a fabulous evening, there will be a D-Feet Cancer gala in early 2026. When we finalize the date and location, I’ll add it to the calendar here on DFeetCancer.org, publicize it on social media, and of course blog about it in subsequent posts.

Dodgeball & Splash:

Cape Henry Collegiate was kind enough to host our fourth annual dodgeball tournament in March. We had around twenty teams competing and helping us celebrate Dalton’s 16th birthday. The original dodgeball tournament was held on February 20th, a day after Dalton’s actual birthday, but the event is now held in March due to venue availability. A big thank you to all the volunteers who helped keep the tournament running smoothly and to all the teams who helped us raise money for our Tenacious Tribe program. Tenacious Tribe aims to help cancer kid siblings feel appreciated and loved while their brother or sister goes through treatment. March was also D-Feet Cancer month at our local carwash, Splash2o. By entering code “8888” and selecting the “Protect Wash” as Splash, our supporters and community helped raise over $1,800 for pediatric cancer research. A huge shout out to Splash2o for their continued support of D-Feet Cancer and many other worthy causes in the Virginia Beach area. If your car is yellow from all the pollen, please go visit our friends at Splash2o.

Dalton’s Dash:

Our next big event is the 4th Annual Dalton’s Dash 5K. Come join us, either in person or virtually, for a fun neighborhood walk/run. We will have The Bagel Baker food truck, DJ Steve, a raffle table, and D-Feet Merchandise, and other fun activities. You can read more about Dalton, the race, and register here: https://runsignup.com/Race/VA/VirginiaBeach/DaltonsDash5k Prices rise on May 1st, so we encourage you to register register before the end of April.

Wasserhund:

Soon after Dalton’s Dash, we’ll have a fundraiser at Wasserhund Brewing Company on Laskin Rd. in Virginia Beach. Join us for 5-10 PM on Tuesday May 27th. Dalton was a huge fan of Marvel movies so we are planning a Marvel trivia contest that night in D’s honor. Personally, anytime I can drink a cold adult beverage while raising money for a great cause, I’m all in.

Skydiving & Golf:

More details to follow but we will be holding our third annual D-Feet Cancer skydiving event on Sunday August 3rd at Skydive Suffolk. Our goal this year is to register 60 jumpers and close down Skydive Suffolk for the day, I’ll be emailing previous jumpers soon and posting registration information to the “Events” tab here at DFeetCancer.org in the next couple of weeks. Also, our fourth annual golf tournament will be held at Red Wing Lake Golf Course on Friday October 10th this year featuring the return of the Freedom Outdoors golf ball launcher gun. Registration details for the golf tournament will also be added to the Events tab soon.

In Closing:

Thanks for reading and for all of your support. in the next blog post, I’ll be able to announce details of another $150,000 of pediatric cancer research funded by D-Feet Cancer thank to all of you. It’s a bit nerve wracking, but quite an honor, to write such large checks. Jen and I make sure we add eight cents onto the end of any donation in honor of our boy and all the kids like him who have fought, are fighting, or who will fight this horrible disease. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for all your support and generosity.

D-Feet Cancer kicked off our summer events with the 3rd Annual Dalton’s Dash 5k on a rainy May morning. Despite the weather, hundreds of people braved the rain and walked/ran 3.1 miles to help fund pediatric cancer research. We’ll have pictures and stories in our upcoming newsletter.

Our local swim team, the Club Brittany Blue Tide, held a swim-a-thon fundraiser for D-Feet Cancer on July 16th. This event, entirely organized by swimmers, raised almost $2,500 which will directly fund pediatric cancer researchers. Thank you Blue Tide for not only remembering your former teammate Dalton but also actively working to help kids like him.

Finally, the second D-Feet Cancer Skydiving event was held on Sunday July 28th. 37 jumpers exited a perfectly good plane at 13,500 feet to fund research. Many more details to come in our next newsletter but we had a great event, the weather was perfect, and plans are already underway to make the event bigger and better for next year. If you would like to join us for skydiving in 2025, please send us a message.

We are working on the next newsletter but feel free to take a look at the April 2024 edition here: http://5pg.150.mytemp.website/wp-content/uploads/D-Feet-Cancer-April-2024-Newsletter.pdf

Upcoming Events:

September 25th: YNOT D-Feet Cancer – more details to come

October 11th: 3rd Annual D-Feet Cancer Golf Tournament https://www.ticketsignup.io/TicketEvent/DFeetCancer2024GolfTournament

January 25, 2025: Save the Date for the Inaugural D-Feet Cancer Gala in Downtown Norfolk

Welcome to 2024. D-Feet Cancer had a great 2023 and we are currently gearing up to help even more kids fight cancer in 2024. More details to come in our upcoming newsletter, but here is a summary of all things D-Feet Cancer.

Giving: D-Feet Cancer just agreed to fund another $100,000 of Ewing Sarcoma research being conducted at the University of Pittsburgh. We also expect to fund another $50K – $75K of research in the next month. These details and still being finalized but D-Feet Cancer expects to surpass $300,000 in funded research before Spring arrives. $300,000 granted to help find better treatments for Ewing Sarcoma and other pediatric cancers in two years thanks to our generous donors and sponsors. Thank you!

League of Larry: We have a new initiative here at D-Feet Cancer. We call it the League of Larry. By pledging a monthly recurring donation of $25/month or more, you too can join the League of Larry. Upon joining, you’ll get a D-Feet Cancer T-shirt and a D-Feet Cancer car magnet as well as our gratitude. Check out monthly giving here: League of Larry

Upcoming Events: We’ve updated the events tab on the website. Back this year are Dodgeball (March 23), Dalton’s Dash 5K (May 18), Skydiving (July 28), and Golf (October 11). Dodgeball registration is currently open and we expect to add registrations for the other events in the coming weeks. D-Feet Cancer is also planning our first ever gala tentatively scheduled for January 25, 2025. Stay tuned for additional details.

Gratitude: Will, Jen, Rachel, and the wonderful D-Feet Board thank you for supporting D-Feet Cancer since our inception a little over two years ago. $300,000 of pediatric cancer research funding is quite an achievement for a group of people who had no experience in forming and running a non-profit. We hope to continue to grow and fund even more research. If you would like to help us grow, please let us know. If you might be interested in helping with an event, fundraising, sponsorship, social media, administration, or just about anything else, please reach out via info@DFeetCancer.org or use the contact form of www.DFeetCancer.org. We’d love to hear from you and thank you for helping us D-Feet Cancer.

Read about the 2nd annual Dalton’s Dash 5K, a research update, Chris Taylor’s bat, and how to “Swim Like a Fox.”

We’ve got some exciting D-Feet Cancer events coming up this Fall. Our golf tournament will be held at Redwing Lake Golf Course in Virginia Beach on Friday October 13th. A month later, we will have an oyster roast, also in Virginia Beach on Saturday November 11th. Jen, I, and the entire D-Feet Cancer team would love to see you at one or both events. Check out the links below for more information and registration details.

Golf Tournament Oct. 13th: https://www.ticketsignup.io/TicketEvent/DFeetCancer2023GolfTournament

Oyster Roast Nov. 11th: https://www.ticketsignup.io/TicketEvent/DFeetCancer2023OysterRoast

Thank you so much for your support of D-Feet Cancer.

Will & Jen Fox

D-Feet Cancer The Dalton Fox Foundation

Please check out the attached March 2023 D-Feet Cancer newsletter.

Among other topics of interest, read about our recent $100,000.08 grant that is currently funding Ewing Sarcoma research. Can you guess Dalton’s favorite number?

We have also attached a summary of the research D-Feet Cancer is funding,  written for non-medical researchers like us.

Finally, we are holding our second Dalton’s Dash 5K on Saturday May 20^th with both in-person and virtual options. Please take a look at the attached flyer or click on the link below to learn more. We would love to have you run with Team Dalton.

https://runsignup.com/Race/VA/VirginiaBeach/DaltonsDash5k

Thank you so much for your support of D-Feet Cancer.

Will & Jen Fox

D-Feet Cancer The Dalton Fox Foundation