Pink Polka Dots Junior Guild hosts 9th annual Golf Tournament fundraiser to fight cancer

The girls made table decorations for the tournament 

Kids grow up a lot in nine years, but what hasn’t changed is this Junior Guild’s dedication to raising money for cancer research.

6th grade seems a distant memory to the founders of the Pink Polka Dots, all in college now, who started out selling handmade cards and gifts at the Lake Forest Park Farmer’s Market in 2006.

Cardmaking party

But the Pink Polka Dots will never forget why they began fundraising. Three Brookside Elementary girls started the Seattle Children’s Hospital guild after losing their friend and classmate Sydney Coxon to a brainstem glioma when she was just 11 years old. From this heart-wrenching beginning, the Junior Guild has always “thought big” and worked hard to raise money and awareness to fight pediatric brain cancers and fund research for a cure. They once said their goal was to raise a million dollars – they are ¾ of the way there!

Selling handmade cards at the Farmers Market
July 2015

As the original members have grown and gone away to college, new generations of Lake Forest Park kids have joined and carried on the Pink Polka Dots’ mission. This past year, the Pink Polka Dots sold their handmade cards and other merchandise at the Arts Council Gallery at the LFP Town Center, the Guild Association Annual Luncheon, the LFP Farmer’s Market, and more. The youngest new members held a successful lemonade and cookie stand fundraiser along the Burke Gilman trail on a very hot day this summer.

Next week, the Pink Polka Dots will host their 9th Annual Sydney Coxon Memorial Golf Tournament, Dinner and Silent Auction on Saturday, September 12th, at Legion Memorial Golf Course in Everett.

This year’s event sponsors include LMI Aerospace, the Coxon Family Foundation, Technology Marketing (TMI), ASC Process Systems, Kirtley-Cole, Presage Biosciences, and Frank Lumber/Kylemont Industries.

All fundraising proceeds benefit the research of Seattle Children’s Dr. Jim Olson at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Dr. Olson was Sydney’s oncologist and in the last nine years his labs have developed incredible new tools for fighting brain tumors and other cancers. Independent funding is critical to the development of new cures.

Selling lemonade on a hot day
at the Burke Gilman Trail

It’s not too late to register or donate! Join for the afternoon of golf and dinner ($130 pp) or the dinner and evening program ($60 pp). Dr. Olson will be the featured speaker at dinner and you can hear directly about how your support is moving us nearer to cures for cancers. Details here.

For more information about how you can help and the Pink Polka Dots upcoming events, including a first-ever all-ages Karaoke Night on October 3rd, see their website.