Fourth and Gold

06/01/2026

IT'S CARNIVAL WEEK! 🎪

This Sunday, join us for the Fourth and Gold Family Carnival and help us raise funds and awareness for childhood cancer research! 💛

For just $10 pre-registration ($15 at the door), you'll get access to:
✨ 2 bounce houses
✨ Face painting
✨ A live magician
✨ DJ & music
✨ Hair styling
✨ Craft stations (slime kits, ornament kits, and more!)
✨ Carnival games (potato sack races, darts, fishing booth, and so much more!)

We'll also have delicious food trucks on site serving up food and treats throughout the day! 🌭🍧

Whether you're bringing the kids, the grandparents, your neighbors or your friends, there's something for everyone. We're so excited to host our very first Family Carnival and celebrate our amazing community while supporting the fight against childhood cancer.

Come spend the day with us, make some memories, and help fund life-changing pediatric cancer research. 💛

📍 Sunday, June 7 at Jacksonville University Rock Stadium
🎟️ $10 pre-registration | $15 at the door

onecau.se/carnival4

We can't wait to see you there!

05/27/2026

Friends 💛

Does anyone have a popcorn machine and/or cotton candy machine we could borrow for the day at our First and Gold Family Carnival! Reach out to us at [email protected] or send us a DM if so!

Our carnival is under 2 weeks away and we are SO excited to celebrate with the families, friends, volunteers, and community members who have helped make all of this possible. In just a few short years, together we’ve been able to grant $576,000 to pediatric cancer research. 💛

We’ll have games, craft booths, competitions (hello potato sack races 👀), face painting, hair tinsel, a magician, bounce houses, food trucks, and so much more!

Sign up now for $5 off admission: onecau.se/carnival4
(Kids under 5 are free!)

A link to First and Gold Family Fun Day's event page.

05/22/2026

Every day, about 47 (on the rise) children in the United States are diagnosed with cancer. That means today, somewhere, a family heard the words that changed everything.

And while ringing the bell at the end of treatment is one of the most beautiful moments we get to witness… it’s also something people don’t always understand. Finishing treatment doesn’t mean the fear disappears.

It means parents suddenly go from constant scans, appointments, nurses, and monitoring… to silence.
It means learning how to breathe without a medical team surrounding you every day. It means wondering before every fever, every bruise, every complaint of pain ... “what if it’s back?”

Childhood cancer changes families forever, not just during treatment, but long after.

At Fourth and Gold, this is why we fight so hard for better, safer, more effective treatments. So more children survive, more families get the chance to heal and so one day, survivorship doesn’t have to come with so much fear attached to it.

Behind every statistic is a child who deserves a future, and a family who deserves more than fear. That is why this mission matters. That is why we keep going.💛

Join us in our fight against childhood cancer:
www.fourthandgold.org

Come spend a few hours with us at our all inclusive carnival on June 7th:
onecau.se/carnival4

A link to First and Gold Family Fun Day's event page.

05/19/2026

🎪 We’re getting everything ready for our First and Gold Family Carnival on 6/7 at JU and we want to make sure we’re stocked up with enough food, games, prizes, vendors, and fun for everyone coming out! 💛

If you’re planning to attend, can you drop a comment below, RSVP on the facebook event site or pre-purchase your tickets here: onecau.se/carnival4

We’ve got carnival games, crafts, food, vendors, family activities, bounce houses and we want to make sure we’re fully prepared for the best experience possible for all of our families and supporters.

05/13/2026

We still need volunteers for our First and Gold Family Carnival on June 7th at JU 🎡💛

Think trunk-or-treat style… but carnival version. We’re looking for people, families, businesses, teams, friend groups, anyone willing to run a game booth, craft table, activity or fun station for the kids. You can totally make it your own and get creative with it.

Easy games, themed booths, prizes, crafts, sports challenges, face paint, goofy ideas… all of it works. The goal is just to make the day fun for families while raising money for childhood cancer research.

Right now we REALLY need more people to step up and help fill out the event. A lot of these kids and families have been through more than most of us can imagine, and this day is meant to give them a chance to just be kids for a while.

If you want to host a booth, volunteer, or have questions shoot us an email at [email protected]

onecau.se/carnival4

*Tickets are also open, $10 early bird and $15 at the door🎫*

05/10/2026

To the oncology moms:

The ones spending Mother’s Day in hospital rooms, clinic chairs, and beside beds instead of brunch tables and backyard parties, we see you 💛

We see the exhaustion you try to hide, the strength you somehow keep finding. We see the way you advocate, comfort, encourage, and fight for your child every single day, even on the days you’re completely running on empty.

You are the keepers of medication schedules, the late-night worriers, the steady hands during hard news, and the safe place your child runs to through every poke, scan, and treatment.

Your strength does not go unnoticed, your love changes everything and this world is better because of mothers like you.

And today, we also hold space for the bereaved mothers. The moms carrying love and grief at the same time. The moms celebrating Mother’s Day with memories instead of hugs.
The moms whose children should still be here.

Your child mattered. Your motherhood matters and your love for your child will always be part of this community.🩷

From all of us at Fourth and Gold, Happy Mother’s Day to the incredible oncology moms. You are seen, appreciated, and deeply loved. 💛

05/08/2026

Continuing our board member spotlight series, we’re excited to highlight another incredible member of the Fourth and Gold team, Dr. Rocio Krystal Rivera Valentin. 💛

Dr. Rivera plays a huge role behind the scenes helping us review grant applications and identify the most promising research focused on finding safer, more effective alternatives to traditional chemotherapy. She is also currently helping develop a new review process for Fourth and Gold that will strengthen and improve the way we evaluate research opportunities moving forward.

A pediatric oncologist and researcher, Dr. Rivera not only cares for children battling cancer, but is deeply committed to improving outcomes through research and innovation. In 2023, she joined Dr. Hong Qin’s lab at Mayo Clinic Florida, where she worked on preclinical models using CAR T-cell therapy for high-grade pediatric brain tumors. She is currently continuing her work in Puerto Rico as both a clinician and researcher.

Her long-term goal is one we deeply believe in at Fourth and Gold, discovering new treatment options that improve survival while minimizing long-term side effects for children fighting cancer.

Originally from Puerto Rico, Dr. Rivera loves the beach, traveling, and spending time with her family. She’s a proud mom to Norah, wife to Pablo, and dog mom to her two fur babies, Kiwi and Lilac. 🐾

We are so grateful for everything Dr. Rivera brings to Fourth and Gold and for the impact she continues to make for kids and families everywhere.🎗️

05/06/2026

Continuing our series of introducing (and re-introducing) the incredible people behind Fourth and Gold 💛

Meet one of our originals and our Vice President, James Carr II.

Originally from Queens, NY, James is a diehard sports guy who’s turned that passion into a career in the pro sports world. He’s held roles with the Temple Owls, Jacksonville Jaguars, Fanatics, the Orlando Magic, and the San Antonio Brahmas of the UFL... basically living the dream.

When he’s not working, you can find him traveling, checking out stand-up comedy, or watching game shows (and yes… he’s actually been a contestant on Sports Jeopardy! 😅).

Since moving to San Antonio in 2021, James has played a huge role in growing Fourth and Gold beyond Jacksonville. He’s built a presence for us in Texas from the ground up, hosting multiple events, creating new connections, and helping expand our reach so we can make an even bigger impact.

We are SO thankful for the heart James has for the childhood cancer community and the drive that he brings to our team. 🎗️💛

https://www.fourthandgold.org/board-of-directors/

05/03/2026

✨ Part 2✨

We love our dodgeball tournaments SO much and we are so thankful to be able to put them on every year, and even more thankful to JU for generously hosting us at the Swisher Gym every year.

Dodgeball is about 2-2.5 hours from start to finish, it's fast paced, but super fun and literally anyone can play.

The biggest shoutouts and thank you's to the captains who continuously rally teams, the refs who show up and volunteer their time, the best photographer in the world, Hillary Raulerson Photography, the coolest DJ to ever do it, Jimmy Delilah, all of the volunteers and all of the players who believe in our mission.

We're so so grateful for all of you. 🎗️💛

((We have a few event day t-shirts left on our website, when they're gone, they're gone😁)

Red: https://www.fourthandgold.org/product/second-annual-dodgeball-tournament-t-shirt/

Teal: https://www.fourthandgold.org/product/4th-annual-kickin-out-cancer-tee/

05/01/2026

We are hopeful to secure a facepainter and/or (temporary) tattoo artist for our carnival on June 7th! Please reach out to [email protected] 😍