Leesburg Jeweler Picks Canines-N-Kids Foundation For Donation

LEESBURG, VA — A Leesburg jeweler selected Canines-N-Kids Foundation, a South Riding-based nonprofit working to put an end to cancer in kids and pet dogs, as a recipient of its First Fruits program. Ketterman's Jewelers will donate 10 percent of its sales to Canines-N-Kids on Saturday, Feb. 1.

On the first business day of each month, Ketterman's gives 10 percent of all receipts to a pre-selected organization. In March, the jeweler has selected Leesburg-based ECHO as the recipient of its First Fruits program, followed by Loudoun Hunger Relief in March.

According to the American Cancer Society, cancer is the number one cause of disease-related death in children. Nearly 16,000 children in the United States will be diagnosed with cancer this year and yet only four drugs have been approved for children's cancers over the past 40 years. Across the country, 6 million canine patients are diagnosed with cancer each year.

Several cancers develop in both children and dogs such as bone cancer, brain cancer, lymphoma and leukemia. In many cases, these cancers are biologically similar or even indistinguishable between kids and dogs, and are far more prevalent in dogs, according to Canines-N-Kids Foundation.

Funds raised will support the Canines-N-Kids Foundation's work to promote the science of comparative oncology — studying and treating spontaneously developing cancer in canine patients when they get sick. The research can help doctors better understand and accelerate the development of better medicines and a cure for children with the same cancers.

The foundation, started in 2017, hopes to start making grants this year to researchers conducting comparative oncology that looks at treatments and cures for dog and child cancers.

Keterman's, located at 38-C Catoctin Circle SE, Leesburg, will be open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1.