September Calls You to Go Gold for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month is observed every September. In the United States the idea reached the White House in 1990, when a presidential proclamation first named a month for children with cancer, and it took years and a series of later resolutions before September was settled and international organizations joined the observance. In our Monthly Campaign series, we note Childhood Cancer Awareness Month as a cause worth campaigning for. 

A small foundation based in the United States Unravel Pediatric Cancer caught our eye. Boldly carrying a slogan: "Together, We Are Disrupting a Broken System." Its campaign is called In September We Go Gold, a Cause and Advocacy campaign running on an Awareness month's calendar, and Unravel pushed it out on Facebook under the hashtag #DontJustBeSorryBeActive.

There is an important story beneath that hashtag. Libby and Tony Kranz, a married couple, established Unravel after their daughter Jennifer was diagnosed at six with DIPG, Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, a terminal brain tumor. Children with that diagnosis are usually given about nine months, but Jennifer had three and a half. After their first fundraiser, Libby and Tony decided to keep Unravel going.

On her blog, Libby Kranz wrote back in 2017 how she received many messages that told her "I am sorry for your loss." But Libby aimed for more and knew that the children deserve better. 

Writing in April 2017, Libby put it plainly: sorry is "not enough." Her reason: "Sorry doesn't stop the tragedy.. the death…the suffering from happening." Seven years later, on the CEO Daily Brief with Dr. Jessica Kriegel podcast, she named what keeps her going: her four surviving children. The children do not need mere sympathy. Unravel asks you to support "our youngest warriors," the ones still in the fight, and then, in a hashtag, tells you that awareness by itself is not the assignment.

Awareness, to our observation, is the subtlest of the nine campaign types on the platform. The claim these campaigns put forth is "I care about this," and caring is free. These campaigns recognize that putting on a frame costs nothing, in this case as little as putting on a gold ribbon for children with cancer. But In September We Go Gold also wants us to recognize that we can do more.

As the mission statement goes, Unravel raises the awareness needed to fund support and research for pediatric cancer, and that shows in how they run the whole movement rather than the frame alone. They organize charity events of every size, from bake sales and marathons to a gala and a family night with other childhood cancer warriors. For the Childhood Cancer Awareness Twibbon itself, Unravel had a plan in place well before the month started. On August 18, the official Facebook page posted the frame and captioned it "Every little bit of awareness matters... and it starts with your profile. 💛"

Members of the community joined the call, following the Linktree in the page bio to the campaign, and shared the frame circling the faces of their WarriorKids. Four days later Unravel held a charity run, Race2Unravel, which raised $20,000 for the cause.

But their biggest awareness campaign is not the Twibbon or the run. It is Fluttering. Every September, a participant receives a set of twelve paper dragonflies and "flutters" them in their yard for a day. The next day the dragonflies move on to another family's yard, and the act continues for as long as participants keep passing the kit along. They do not simply "flutter" or get "fluttered" either; every household that receives the dragonflies donates to choose who gets them next. One kit travelling to a new house each day through September raises $500 to $800 on average, and the money goes to research into pediatric cancer.

Paper dragonflies as Traditional Fluttering kit. Credit: Unravel Pediatric Cancer YouTube channel

In what they call Traditional Fluttering, each house receives a real badge in person that marks their effort to support the cause. However, they also cover the digital side with Virtual Fluttering. This way anyone can join in spreading awareness through the simple act of sharing a social media post. For zero dollars, a person can sign up and receive a virtual kit consisting of multiple posters to share on their own page. These posters are not to be shared at random times. There is a weekly schedule that lasts from late August to the end of September. Every week a participant is to post one poster which tells a fact regarding pediatric cancer along with a caption with further explanation, hashtags, and instructions for others to join the movement. All of which were prepared by Unravel. With their detailed planning, Unravel makes it easy for people to contribute more.

By no means is Unravel alone in this Childhood Cancer Awareness Month on Twibbonize. Many others around the world built frames for the same month. On the same day Unravel posted on Facebook, Childhood Cancer International and the International Society of Paediatric Oncology launched Gold September 2026, which had 269 supporters when this piece went up.

What sets Unravel apart is the enduring spirit that lies behind a small foundation. Their Twibbon also arrives paired with Fluttering, the Traditional gives an actual badge to plant in their yard, while the Virtual gives a person meaningful content to share in their digital space. This is why we direct the spotlight toward Unravel for Childhood Cancer Awareness. The Twibbon remains an entry point, but they don't stop there. They find inventive ways that are practical, and encourage others to do more, so they reach the destination, that is every child diagnosed with cancer getting the best treatment there is.