Welcome to our First ALA News Blast

Our social media channels reach a broad audience, but this newsletter lets us dive deeper into each facet of our mission and share a year end update with the donors and supporters who make our work possible. 2025 has been a landmark year for us, and with your continued generosity we’re eager to sustain this momentum.
About Avery’s Little Army

Avery’s Little Army was founded in memory of Avery Marie Lafferty, who was diagnosed with a diffuse midline glioma (DMG), at age 9. DMG—also known as diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG)— is an aggressive, Grade 4 brain cancer that spreads rapidly, and, to date, lacks effective treatments or a cure. Avery’s tumor was located in her thalamus. She bravely fought the disease for 2½ years before passing on July 12, 2024. When her diagnosis revealed the stark shortage of treatment options and federal funding for many pediatric cancers, we knew action was needed. Avery’s compassionate spirit inspired us to create a grassroots organization to raise funds, support families, and drive research forward—thus, Avery’s Little Army was born.

Our Mission

“Our mission is to honor the legacy of Avery Marie Lafferty, an exceptionally brave cancer rebel, and patients like her. We strive to advance pediatric brain and other cancer research through funding, provide support and assistance to families battling pediatric cancer, and promote activities to raise awareness.”

This mission guides everything we do. In this edition, we spotlight key initiatives that align with each mission pillar.

Promote Activities to Raise Awareness

We recognize that many of you want to contribute but may not have the time or find our events fit your schedule. To bridge that gap, we invite you to help spread awareness by wearing Avery’s Little Army apparel. Our newest items are crafted from premium, heavyweight fabric—perfect for cooler weather—and make great gifts. As always, 100 % of the proceeds support our mission. Look great and feel good knowing you contributed to a worthy cause. It also touches us profoundly when we see our merchandise out and about.

Since our inception, Avery’s Little Army has forged strategic partnerships and undertaken a series of impactful initiatives to accelerate progress in the

area of research. We have become a Leadership Partner with The Cure Starts Now DIPG/DMG Collaborative — a coalition of independent foundations that pools resources to support long term DIPG/DMG research, eliminate duplication, enhance transparency, and build cooperative channels (thecurestartsnow.org/research/dipg-collaborative).

In parallel, we serve as a Research Partner with ChadTough Defeat DIPG, helping patients and families by funding game changing research. In 2026 we’re stepping up our commitment with ChadTough to be a named co-funder of the DMG ACT, a multi-institutional research and treatment program that led to the promising trial, PNOC022, which helped to extend Avery’s life after diagnosis. (chadtough.org/about-us/our-partners/research-partners)

Our commitment extends to joining 36 family foundations in sponsoring the DIPG-DMG National Tumor Board, which delivers patient centered advice on innovative treatment options and clinical trials to providers—particularly those in locations that are outside major children’s hospitals (dmgnationaltumorboard.org).

Finally, we have funded preclinical work at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia that is essential for an FDA submission to launch a cutting edge GD2 CAR T clinical trial for pediatric brain tumors, marking the first such trial on the East Coast. We have further committed in 2026 to fund MaxCyte base chemical necessary to load the T-cells with mRNA to target cancer cells.

Avery’s Little Army has focused on supporting families since its inception, reflecting Avery's empathy and compassion. The first program sponsored by our board was the Chadtough DIPG/DMG Nurse Navigators, a team of nurses with expertise in pediatric cancer who offer families personalized medical guidance, connect them to relevant resources, and provide ongoing support throughout the entire DIPG/DMG journey. Launched in May 2022, Avery’s family was in the initial patient cohorts, receiving assistance in identifying clinical trials, managing symptoms and developing contingency plans. In August 2025, the Nurses marked a significant milestone by supporting over 500 families. We have committed to funding the Nurses through 2026, in partnership with ChadTough Defeat DIPG and many other family foundations. In October, following generous donations over the summer and during Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month in September, we launched our program with Yale to offer financial assistance to families affected by childhood cancer.
Within two months, this initiative has supported 8 families coping with diagnoses such as Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Optical Glioma, Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and Diffuse Midline Glioma, by providing over $11,000 for rent, mortgage, and essential living expenses. Several of these families are recently diagnosed and have spent extended periods in the hospital, necessitating a withdrawal from work and other commitments. We are committed to offering this assistance, particularly to families navigating the initial stages of their cancer journey.