Team Kaiden's Fundraising Page

By participating in the 2022 Boston Marathon® Jimmy Fund Walk presented by Hyundai, Team Kaiden is making every step count toward the ultimate finish line: a world without childhood cancer.

Team Kaiden was founded in 2004 in loving memory of Kaiden Alexander Audette whose life was cut short due to Medulloblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.  Kaiden was only 16 months old when he died on October 27, 2004 -- the same day that the Red Sox won the World Series.

Kaiden was a brave, snugly and social toddler with a big smile and bright
eyes. Before the toxic side effects of cancer treatment diminished
Kaiden’s quality of life, he was learning how to walk, play basketball
and loved to eat. A Boston-based Finding Nemo fan, Kaiden enjoyed taking long walks out the garden at Boston Children’s Hospital, late night play dates with his nurses on (the old) 9N and music and art therapy.

Since Kaiden’s passing, his mother, Kate also known as Mama K, has gone to be an advocate and fundraiser for children’s health with a focus on children with cancer.

This year Team Kaiden will once again return to the Jimmy Fund Boston
Marathon Walk, but this year, for the first time, we will be raising
money for the Team Beans Infant Brain Tumor Fund at Dana-Farber.

The Team Beans Infant Brain Tumor Fund at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute was
established in 2021 in memory of Francesca “Beans” Kaczynski. Beans
passed away at nine months old on Christmas Eve 2020 of a rare brain
tumor known as ATRT. 

Beans was an outgoing, bold and curious baby. She had huge, deep brown     eyes that followed whatever her parents were doing. She loved eating and      being held close, particularly in the evenings.  A Brooklyn-based Sesame Street fan, she enjoyed taking long walks around New York City and Boston, playing with her toys and balloons, attending speech therapy, and “petting" (i.e. grabbing) her cat Ryland.

Though Kaiden and Francesca will never get to experience the life they should
have, with everyone’s support we can create a lasting legacy for these
children.

When Kaiden was treated in 2004 for brain cancer, treatment options for young children with brain cancer were very limited.

Not much had changed when Francesca was treated for brain cancer 16 years
after Kaiden. The only treatments for these aggressive cancers are often harsh chemotherapy regimens that require families to spend months living in the hospital. They often fail to work and sometimes, and, as Kaiden and Francesca’ stories show, have fatal side effects.  

And yet the heroic medical professionals who work hard every day to improve outcomes of our babies too often face severe funding challenges. That’s why your contributions in both Kaiden and Francesca’s memories are a game changer. 

Kaiden and Francesca’s neuro-oncologist and head of the new program,             renowned expert Dr. Susan Chi, says the new center will enable Dana-Farber to fund new projects and accelerate research in this crucial area.

There’s so much work left to do to understand how brain cancer works in infants and explore less brutal treatments. And progress in this fight will
only be made bit by bit through the kinds of clinical trials and
research projects that the center will house.

Thank you for supporting Team Kaiden and the Team Beans Infant Brain Tumor Fund at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in the Jimmy Fund Walk. Together, we can defy childhood cancer!