Jenna's Legacy
TWO INCREDIBLE WAYS TO INVEST
FIND A CURE
Help fund ovarian cancer research
A team of professionals at Children's Minnesota continue to study and research Jenna's actual cancer tumor. Help fund this amazing team of people as they continue Jenna's fight for a cure. Every dollar donated is crucial to help this research continue.
Read more below about the the impact your investments have already made!
Target:
$5000/yr
YOUNG LIFE
An endowment fund created to help send a teenager to a life-changing experience
Jenna's life was forever impacted when she was given a free trip to a Young Life camp ($800 trip). That week she heard the incredible story of God's love for her, and that week, she gave her life to Jesus. It changed her life & her eternity.
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In her honor, a scholarship fund was created to send kids like Jenna to camp.
Target:
$100,000
A team of professionals at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota continue to study and research Jenna's specific cancer. This amazing team of people has committed to continue Jenna's fight until the research has led to a cure. It is my understanding that every dollar we donate is crucial for helping this research continue.
None of the below efforts (in the 2017 updates) have existing funding so your donations are being used to help with the initial costs of the work. We are so grateful to everyone that has helped make this research possible!
Research Updates
March 2017 Update
A new protocol was opened in December 2016 and by March 2017, had enrolled 26 individuals! For each of them that has a blood draw or IV placed, we collect blood and sometimes urine samples and we are using those to develop ways to screen, monitor treatment effect and check for recurrent tumor after completion of therapy. Most DICER1 tumors don't make AFP so there is usually no way at all except for scans to monitor treat efficacy. Of course, scans have plenty of downsides, especially in young children including radiation exposure and need for sedation so a blood or urine test that could help with those goals would make a huge impact on burden of both the journey they experience and the likelihood of cure.
We are also on the trail of an immunotherapy plan-- using a new drug targeted toward a specific marker expressed on ovarian tumors and PPB which has shown promise in other kinds of tumors in mice. This is likely to be tested directly against the tumors that are growing in the mice in the next few months.
February 2017 Update
We opened a new DICER1 protocol in December and have already enrolled 18 patients-- that's more than we anticipated in such a short time. The funds you are raising are helping us to develop a new way to detect and monitor response to therapy for DICER1 tumors (this is important not only for monitoring response to therapy in humans but also in monitoring effectiveness of the new agents in the lab so we know which ones are best options for moving into the clinical realm).
Our novel therapies work is going well also. We need to come up with a better way to deliver let-7 to the tumors and we have some new thoughts on how to do that. Stay tuned.
Learn More about Young Life & Cancer Research
For 15 years, Jenna persistently used the tool of Young Life to share the incredible, life-giving news of Jesus, with the teenagers she spent countless hours loving and investing in.
Jenna also spent her time and money to attend nursing school, so that she could help, love, and serve kids who, like her, had to face and battle cancer at such a young age. She worked at both Lexington Children's Hospital and Cincinnati Children's Hospital after graduating from the University of Kentucky.
Please consider partnering with Jenna as she continues to leave a legacy that changes the outcome of kids lives, both here and for eternity.
YOUNG LIFE
Scholarship
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CANCER
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"How often do we get to slow down and have deep, intentional conversations? I love camp because it creates that environment with ease. Kids got to hear why life is so hard and messed up, and they got to see Jesus clearly, the Jesus who came to offer them real life. I can’t think of a greater privilege God has given me than being able to lead Young Life, and that is always at its peak during summer camp."
jenna henderson
Timberwolf Lake Young Life Camp
HELP JENNA CONTINUE TO IMPACT LIVES FOR ETERNITY
During Jenna's last week, she made it clear that she wanted to keep sending kids to Young Life camp. To her, there was nothing more important than loving kids where they are at, and sharing Jesus with them. The same Jesus she was so very excited to go be with. In fact, we had to keep it from her that we canceled Young Life events that week, knowing that she would get upset with us. As a result of her love for Young Life, the Jenna Henderson Memorial Endowment Fund was established in 2016.
This scholarship fund currently provides an annual camp scholarship for a high school student that otherwise would not be able to afford it. The average cost of attending a week at Young Life camp (a resort built specifically for teenagers) is around $800.
When Jenna was a freshman in High School, she went to see her brother off to a Young Life camp. She had just finished cancer treatment and made the comment "I wish I could go." Overhearing this comment, a chain reaction occurred - and it changed her life forever. The Trip leader found out she said this, told her to go home and pack, and the rest is history. Jenna found her self on the bus to Young Life camp. While there, she gave her life to Christ. Her love for Jesus started here - simply because the Young Life area decided that the cost was worth it. They covered Jenna's trip and it changed her eternity.
This is the legacy she leaves with us. This is the legacy we will continue in her memory. I would be honored if you would consider joining this cause and making a donation that will, no doubt, change kids lives forever, and create more legacies like Jenna's.
WatchJenna's Story
Legacy
STORIES
Each year, a student is selected to receive the Jenna Henderson Memorial Endowment Fund Scholarship. Meet Eli, the first-ever recipient in 2017.