Senate approves ‘Cure Childhood Cancer’ license plates

June 1, 2016 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

State Sen. Marty Golden says the license plates will “bring about a sense of hope.” Photo courtesy of Golden’s office

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Drivers will be able to help fund research into cures for childhood cancer by purchasing special license plates if a bill passed by the New York State Senate becomes law.

State Sen. Marty Golden (R-C-Bay Ridge-Southwest Brooklyn) was a prime co-sponsor of a bill that would authorize the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles to issue vanity license plates to raise awareness of childhood cancer to motorists who want the plates.

The distinctive license plates would be available for a $25 fee and would feature the words “Cure Childhood Cancer.”

State Sen. Kenneth LaValle (R-Eastern Long Island) sponsored the bill.

Under the bill, $20 out of the sale of each set of the license plates would be placed into a trust fund to be allocated for childhood cancer research and education projects approved by the commissioner of the New York State Department of Health.

The trust fund would also provide grants to childhood cancer research hospitals for the purpose of researching a cure.

“In honor of all the families that have been affected by childhood cancer, I believe these license plates will bring about a sense of hope and raise money in our fight to end pediatric cancer. Without any doubt, funding must be increased to battle against this horrific disease that is childhood cancer. I know that with additional research and increased awareness, we can find a cure and save lives,” Golden said in a statement.

Camille Loccisano, founder of the Francesco Loccisano Memorial Foundation, a childhood cancer advocacy organization in Bay Ridge, said she is pleased with the passage of the bill.

“This would bring tremendous awareness to the fight for a cure,” she told the Brooklyn Eagle on Tuesday. “If you’re driving and you see a car in front of you with a ‘Cure Childhood Cancer’ license plate, it makes you think.”

The Loccisano Foundation, which is also called Frankie’s Mission, is named in memory of Camille Loccisano’s son, Francesco, who died of pediatric cancer in 2007 at the age of 17.

The foundation provides financial assistance to the families of children with cancer.

Several other states across the country are considering specialized “cure cancer” license plates, according to Loccisano, who credited Tim Stowell, an Upstate New York man who lost his 9-year-old son Ben to cancer, with spearheading major efforts to raise awareness.

“Some states have done it already. And some are planning to do it,” Loccisano told the Eagle.

In 2014, Councilmember Vincent Gentile, working with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, introduced a resolution in the City Council in support of the state issuing vanity license plates to raise awareness of childhood cancer.

More than 15,000 children are diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. each year, according to www.curesearch.org, a website that keeps track of cancer rates.

The Senate bill has been sent to the Assembly.