Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation, Inc.

On July 6, 2008, the lives of Dena and Billy Sherwood changed forever when their then 13-month-old son, Billy Jr., was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a very aggressive cancer of the sympathetic nervous system that most commonly occurs in infants and children under the age of five.

There is no known cure for Neuroblastoma, and because it is relatively rare – affecting only approximately 650 children in the United States each year – research funding for this “orphan” cancer and more effective treatments is limited as pharmaceutical companies do not see the efforts as profitable. Only 30% of children diagnosed with this disease will survive, and those that do will face countless health risks due to the toxicity of today’s treatments.

The Sherwoods, recognizing that children should not be viewed as a profit but, rather, our investment, founded Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation, Inc., a registered 501(c)3 publicly supported nonprofit organization. Through its efforts, Arms Wide Open raises money for alternative therapies and actual treatments these children desperately need in order to prolong their lives until a cure is found.

“I hope we raise a million dollars so we can give it all away...”

Dena Sherwood

"We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed."
(2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

Attending the Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation's 2nd annual "Give Thanks for Life," gala fundraiser at the Hilton Garden Inn, Bloomfield, are, from left, seated, Dr. Nai-Kong Cheung and Dr. Brian Kushner of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, and the Sherwood family: Sydney, 8, Dena, William Sr. and William, Jr., 3. The Neuroblastoma Team of Memorial Sloan-Kettering was presented with a check for $275,000 at the event, which will be used to contract with a company to produce IgG1n, a humanized antibody treatment administered to children suffering from neuroblastoma.