Round Up for the Kids During October at a Participating DQ® Restaurant!

Participating DQ locations will be asking fans to round up their food and treat purchases to the nearest dollar during the month of October. All donations will go to Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Round Up for the Kids is a great way to help children in our community get back to being kids again. Funds raised go directly to Seattle Children’s Greatest Needs Fund and help us provide outstanding patient care, support research into groundbreaking treatments and ensure no child who needs us is ever turned away.

Gifts to the Greatest Needs Fund support things like:

• Expert care for children throughout Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho.
• Uncompensated care for families with little or no ability to pay.
• Seed funding for research advances that lead to better health outcomes.
• More space for the most vulnerable children, including those who seek emergency services, cancer treatment and critical care.

When a sick or injured child needs treatment at Children’s, parents have many concerns. But thanks to your generosity, they don’t need to worry about the quality of their child’s care – or their ability to pay. Your giving brings healing to children and peace of mind to their families.

Customer change gathered during October can bring healing and happiness to kids like Aliyanna.

When Daisy Martinez was 25 weeks pregnant, an ultrasound revealed a lump growing on her baby’s spine. Her fears were quickly confirmed: It was a cancerous tumor.

Five weeks later, Daisy had an emergency delivery in Portland, Oregon, a few hours from her home. Aliyanna was born 10 weeks premature and weighed only 3 pounds, 13 ounces. The tumor, which was pressing against her spine and causing her pain, ruptured a few days later, and Aliyanna underwent a 12-hour surgery to remove part of it. The following month, doctors found the tumor had regrown and searched for options other than chemotherapy, due to Aliyanna’s small size. That’s when mother and daughter came to Seattle Children’s.

Dr. Doug Hawkins, who leads Seattle Children’s oncology team, talked with Daisy about a research trial for a drug called larotrectinib. He showed how it had worked for other kids and he believed it could halt Aliyanna’s growing cancer.

Although she felt nervous and scared – Aliyanna would be the smallest participant in the trial – Daisy participated in hopes of saving her baby. Within the first couple of weeks, she saw a huge change. The tumor was visibly shrinking, and Aliyanna was suddenly more awake, hungry and happy.

Today, Aliyanna is a bright-eyed 1-year-old and continues to take larotrectinib. Looking at her now, you’d never guess what she went through in those first months. But her mom will always remember their Seattle Children’s family and the love their care team showed to a tenacious baby girl.

Thanks to the fans and franchisees of DQ locations in Western Washington, Seattle Children’s received over $160,000 from DQ in 2018 alone!