Nothing says spring has arrived in the Lone Star State better than lush fields of glorious bluebonnets. But on Thursday, March 19^th, DQ’s fans (and fanatics) can celebrate spring’s arrival with a free small cone from participating Texas Dairy Queen (TDQ) stores across the state. 

Fans can upload their Free Cone Day photos using the hashtag “freeconeday.” But wait, there’s more.  If fans want more free treats, they can upload their photos to the DairyQueenTexas Facebook page under YourDQMoments, and if their photo is selected, they could snag a $10 TDQ gift card. 

As much as we’d like to give away a bunch of free cones to everybody forever, we have to draw the line somewhere. So, we’re limiting the free giveaway to one cone per customer. And needless to say (but we’ll say it anyway), while supplies last. 

We’re proud of our iconic brand status. Long before social media, TDQ has been THE place for Texans to connect with each other and make memories. We invite everyone to grab a free cone on March 19, go admire the Texas bluebonnets and create new memories.

There are few brands as iconic as the DQ® brand. Innovative DQ treats and eats, along with the unique DQ restaurant concepts, have positioned Texas Dairy Queen as a leader in the quick service restaurant industry. Texas Dairy Queen is comprised of 154 franchisees with 600 locations across Texas. 

For more information, visit dqtexas.com or follow TDQ on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook. 

TeamConnor Childhood Cancer Foundation donated $250,000 to three research hospitals to study brain tumors, neuroblastoma, and natural killer T cells. The research will be conducted respectively at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine and its affiliated partner Texas Children’s Hospital, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“Each year we seek out researchers who are innovative in their approach to childhood cancer research,” said Dr. Amy Pass, TeamConnor Board Member. “This year’s recipients are exceptional researchers who have dedicated their talents to find answers to difficult challenges. We have funded three exceptional projects that have great potential to bring us another step closer to finding cures.”

Dr. Dasgupta at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital will examine an unexplored, potentially critical factors that sustain intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPGs) that form in the brains of children. DIPGs are rare, incurable brain tumors. Most children live less than two years after diagnosis and the likelihood of survival at five years is 1%.  There is no way to operate on these brainstem tumors due to their location. Radiation and chemotherapy have not proven successful.  

Awarded $100,000 Dr. Dasgupta will unravel the genetics and metabolism of the tumors to generate an interactive map of the cellular networks that make up DIPGs. From this map, new therapies can be generated using medications that are identified as targets.  Additionally, this data will be publicly available so that researchers globally can continue to work towards improved treatment for children with DIPGs. 

Dr. Tao and her team from Baylor College of Medicine and its affiliated partner Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston received $50,000 to investigate strategies to overcome neuroblastoma resistance to current therapies. She has identified a critical metabolic pathway in high-risk neuroblastoma. She will determine if targeting neuroblastoma metabolism can restore the sensitivity of this aggressive cancer to chemotherapy. Dr. Tao expects their research will provide novel mechanistic insight in drug resistance and will develop clinically translatable approaches that will benefit children who develop resistance to treatment.

A $100,000 grant was awarded to Dr. Bassiri at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) who will delve deeper into research involving a type of NKT cells (natural killer T cells) that may have a significant role in high risk tumors.  He and his team at CHOP are hopeful that their knowledge of NKT cells will allow for the development of NKT cell- based immunotherapy for neuroblastoma in the future, providing a new form of therapy that may have improved outcomes with fewer toxic side effects. 

“Research is critical to unlocking the mysteries that have bewildered the medical community for decades,” said Joy Cruse, founder of TeamConnor. “As a nonprofit, we must be good stewards of the funds we are entrusted with and we have chosen these researchers and their institutions to take their research to the next level. We must find better solutions to save children diagnosed with cancer and allow them to have a good quality of life once they are in remission.” 

Improvement in the treatment, cure and long-term survival of young children with neuroblastoma, continues to be at the heart of the TeamConnor mission. Children with neuroblastoma endure extensive treatments, including surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy, with 50% of children succumbing to their cancer, due to tumor spread, secondary tumors, or failure of treatment.

Since 2008, TeamConnor has donated more than $3 million to numerous hospitals across the country in its mission to fund research that attempts to find new treatment options and cures for the most vulnerable population, children. TeamConnor Childhood Cancer Foundation is dedicated to raising awareness and funding research and treatment programs to find a cure for all childhood cancers.   

Every year, more than 12,500 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer in the United States. Childhood cancer is the number one disease killer of children, yet the federal government allocates less than four percent of its funds to pediatric cancer research. 

TeamConnor hosts several events throughout the year to raise funds and awareness for childhood cancer research, including the 16^th Annual III Forks Golf Classic, May 3 & 4, 2020; and the 10^th Annual Northwestern Mutual Clay Shoot, November 2, 2020. For more information on TeamConnor events, contact Sydney Little, special events and outreach coordinator, at slittle@teamconnor.org or (972) 663-7302. 

For more information on how to join the fight against childhood cancer, please visit teamconnor.org or follow TeamConnor on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.

The holiday season is a time of increased giving across North Texas and Park Place Dealerships’ members united to give back to help those who may need it. 

Park Place Motorcars Fort Worth collected non-perishable food and toys throughout November to donate to a local food bank and Toys for Tots. More than 741 pounds of food were collected along with 400 toys with the help of the 149 Park Place members.  

All of these efforts are part of the Park Place Cares program, which encourages Park Place’s 2,100 members to volunteer their time and resources to serve the community in which they live and work. 

Park Place Dealerships operates 17 full-service dealerships representing luxury brands Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover, Karma, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, McLaren, and Maserati. For more info, visit parkplace.com.

TeamConnor Childhood Cancer Foundation will host the 3^rd Annual Smashing Childhood Cancer tennis clinic and exhibition game Saturday, January 25, 2020. The event will be held at Life Time Plano’s indoor tennis courts (7100 Preston, Plano) located on the northeast corner of Legacy and Preston. 

Smashing Childhood Cancer kicks off at 12:00 pm with registration followed by the first session of drills starting at 1:00 pm. Food, beverages, raffles, and the exhibition game will begin around 3:00 pm. The second round of drills begins at 4:00 pm.  Tennis Pros from area tennis facilities will be leading the drills: AJ Chabria - At The Net, Clint Sumrow - HEAD Penn Racquet Sports, Craig Bell - Bent Tree Country Club, Steve Nolen - Spring Park Racquet Club, Henry Gonzales - Gleneagles Country Club, Rob Van Der Schans - Canyon Creek Country Club, Andres Osorio - Lifetime Fitness, Carlos Aguirre - Stonebriar Country Club.

Formerly a childhood cancer fighter and now a survivor, Clint Sumrow, District Sales Manager for Head/Penn Racquet Sports in North Texas will serve as a committee member of Smashing Childhood Cancer. Sumrow was diagnosed with bone cancer, Ewing’s Sarcoma at the age of five. After a biopsy revealed his cancer spread to his lungs, he underwent numerous rounds of chemotherapy and radiation at Children’s Health in Dallas.  After a year of treatment, he was cancer free and has been healthy to date. Sumrow; now thirty-seven years-old, is happily married with a three-year-old son.   

“Thousands of children are diagnosed with cancer each year and anytime a child is diagnosed with cancer, the child, families, and communities suffer,” said Joy Cruse, founder of Dallas-based TeamConnor Childhood Cancer Foundation. “Smashing Childhood Cancer will help us draw more awareness to childhood cancer, as well as raise much needed funds for research.”

Registration for Smashing Childhood Cancer is open for the January 25^th tennis event. The clinic and exhibition match include two hours of tennis drills, food and beverage, raffle and prizes. To register individually or as a ten-player team, please contact Lindsay Cleland at lcleland@teamconnor.org.

In addition to this event, TeamConnor will host the 16^th Annual III Forks Golf Classic on May 3 - 4, 2020. Contact Lindsay Cleland at lcleland@teamconnor.org for sponsorship opportunities for these upcoming events.

To date, TeamConnor has donated nearly $3 million for research across the country. Every year, approximately 250,000+ new cases of cancer affect children under the age of 20 worldwide. Childhood cancer is the number one disease killer of children; yet the budget of the National Cancer Institute allocates less than four percent of its funds to pediatric cancer research. TeamConnor Childhood Cancer Foundation is dedicated to raising awareness and funding research and treatment programs to find a cure for all childhood cancers.   

For more information on how to join the fight against childhood cancer, please visit teamconnor.org or follow TeamConnor on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.

The III Forks Golf Classic Auction & Dinner presented by Northwestern Mutual – Dallas benefiting TeamConnor Childhood Cancer Foundation raised a record $615,000 for the fight against childhood cancer.

“We had great community support which helped us surpass last year’s total amount raised,” said Joy Cruse, founder of TeamConnor. “As people learn more about the need for critical research, they are moved to help the kids battling this dreadful disease. It will take the support of companies and the community working together to fund the cures for childhood cancers because the government just isn’t allocating enough funds towards research. We have high expectations for next year’s event.”

TeamConnor has set the dates for the 16^th Annual event at III Forks Steakhouse and Gleneagles Country Club in Plano for May 3 – 4, 2020. 

Local media personality Mark Davis with 660-AM The Answer, hosted this year’s III Forks Golf Classic celebratory dinner and auction. Fox 4 reporter and evening news anchor Steve Eagar, served as honorary chair.  

Cook Children’s is moving rapidly toward the incorporation of a Cellular Therapy program at the Cook Children’s Hematology and Oncology Center. As the result of a Call to Action during the III Forks auction, TeamConnor donated more than $85,000 for a Cellular Therapy Clinical Trial for Neuroblastoma. 

More than 250 players came out to support the battle against childhood cancer at the golf tournament at the prestigious Gleneagles Country Club.  Since 2008, TeamConnor Childhood Cancer Foundation has donated nearly $3 million to hospitals and research centers across the country including Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Dana Farber Cancer Institute; UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas; UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, University of Colorado Denver, and Children’s Health Dallas. 

Sponsors for the 2019 III Forks Golf Classic include: III Forks Steakhouse, Title Sponsor; Northwestern Mutual – Dallas, Presenting Sponsor; Park Place Lexus Plano, Automotive Sponsor; Leslie and Alex Beilin, Dinner Sponsor; PlainsCapital Bank, LeaderBoard Sponsor; Peter Millar – Legacy West; Patron Reception Sponsor; BenefitsTexas, Auction Sponsor; D1 Scouting, Valet Sponsor; Town & Country Roofing, Lunch Sponsor; Zigatta, Cart Sponsor; Marsh & McLennan Agency, Bourbon Pull Sponsor; Messick Peacock & Associate, Tent Sponsor; Sally and Jon Quesnel, Wine Pull Sponsor; Candy and Scott Lane, Awards Sponsor; The Beck Group (2), Jordan Flournoy LLP, Becky and Rick Welday, Beverage Station Sponsor; Chamblee Ryan, Driving Range Sponsor; Something Pretty Floral, Floral Sponsor; Dorfman Pacific, Hat Sponsor; Legacy Print Group, Print Sponsor; Candlelight Films, Video Sponsor; City Central, Website Sponsor; and 5 Star Expeditions, Armstrong Accountancy P.C., Charles Armstrong, CPA, Digital Range, Fluellen Cupcakes, Frost Bank, Garrison Brothers Distillery, Living Spaces, Stephanie and Loren Hsiao, Park West Gallery, Performance Medicine, Peter Millar, Legacy West (2), Pockets Menswear, Pudding on Smiles, Tommy Bahama and Maui Jim, Water Event, and Gary Wolfe, MBA, CPA, LUTCF, CLU, ChFC, CLTC, AEP, RICP Wealth Management Advisor (2), Hole Sponsors.

Every year, approximately 250,000+ new cases of cancer affect children under the age of 20 worldwide. Childhood cancer is the number one disease killer of children; yet, the budget of the National Cancer Institute allocates less than four percent of its funds to pediatric cancer research. TeamConnor Childhood Cancer Foundation is dedicated to raising awareness and funding research and treatment programs to find a cure for all childhood cancers.   

TeamConnor hosts several events throughout the year to raise funds and awareness for childhood cancer research, including the 9^th Annual Northwestern Mutual Clay Shoot, November 4, 2019; Smashing Childhood Cancer, January 25, 2020; and 16^th Annual III Forks Golf Classic, May 3 - 4, 2020. Contact Lindsay Cleland at lcleland@teamconnor.org for sponsorship, team and individual player opportunities for the 16^th Annual III Forks Golf Classic.  

For more information on how to join the fight against childhood cancer, please visit teamconnor.org or follow TeamConnor on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.