Erin Tracy - Nurse and Founder at Fourth and Gold

Erin Tracy, originally from Pulaski, New York, has been a full time registered nurse since 2013 here in Jacksonville, Florida and founded Fourth and Gold in 2020 when she realized the harsh, outdated treatments being used for childhood cancer treatment. She shares here competitive spirit growing up playing softball and her passion for helping people in becoming a nurse. Since 2020, Fourth and Gold has funded $476,000 in alternative to chemotherapy treatment options. In her spare time, Erin enjoys being outdoors, running half marathons, and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCvZgqjGio4

Brian Harbin: Hello, my name is Brian Harbin. Welcome to today's episode of the Grit.org podcast! We have my wife Jennifer here joining us.

Welcome Jen!

Jennifer: Thank you!

Brian Harbin: And we have Erin Tracy here from Fourth and Gold. So super excited to jump into this episode today with you Erin. But first wanted to give a shout out to our sponsor escrow.com, the world's most secure payment method for online transactions.

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So Erin Tracy is the owner of Fourth and Gold. She is a pediatric oncology hematology nurse at Wolfson Children's Hospital. And she's really taken her passion for helping young people with cancer by starting a nonprofit to raise funds for research helping find non toxic treatment to help cure kids battling cancer. The rare cancers usually get the least amount of funding. So she is here to help fix that.

So welcome Erin!

Erin Tracy: Thank you so much! Thank you for having me!

Brian Harbin: Definitely. So we kind of like to jump in at the very beginning and I know you grew up in Pulaski, New York and so any people or principles that were very impactful for you early on.

Erin Tracy: So yeah, for sure. I grew up in Palaski, which is I graduated with 74 people. So everybody knew everybody. We, everybody was very close knit. But I particularly grew really close to one of my softball coaches. Her name was Jill or is Jill. And she coached me again, the town is so small. So she coached me through soccer, through basketball, through softball and we just had a really strong connection from the beginning and she's always inspired me just to do more. You know our town is small and small towns like a lot of trouble happens. And a lot of people are like, oh, I just can't wait to get out of this town. And she always encouraged me, do more than this town has to offer you, right? Make a difference.

Come back to this town having made a difference and use your platform of sports. I was a three sport athlete and I played softball in college. So she always just resonated with me so deeply just that I could do more. My parents were divorced, so my mom was in New York, my dad was in Florida. And I have great relationships with both of them. But she kind of stepped in as that second role model just when I was up there. And yeah, she just super encouraging me to do more and like think about myself.

Brian Harbin: And it sounds like softball was kind of a passion early on. Tell us a little bit more about that.

Erin Tracy: Absolutely. I've played softball since I, well, I originally started baseball because they didn't have a softball for girls our age. So I started playing baseball since basically I could walk. And I played little league. I made the all stars when I was 12. I was a pitcher, I pitched a no hitter. And then after sixth grade, there's no more baseball for girls. So I switched over to softball and I mean, it's always been a first love of mine. So I basically eat, slept and breathed softball. And I was fortunate enough to have her coach me the entire time and I went on to play softball in college also.

Jennifer: You played soccer and basketball too?

Erin Tracy: I did three sports, yeah. And actually my senior year I left soccer and went to tennis.

Jennifer: Oh, nice. Probably didn't leave you a lot of room for a job, I'm guessing.

Erin Tracy: No, oh, no, no jobs. My parents were great and…. Yeah, absolutely. And let me have the high school experience for sure.

Brian Harbin: Yeah. And we can definitely attest to believing that, you know, sports is such a great, you know, tool to learn from. You know, we run a summer sports camp. But I guess for you, what do you feel like you learned from softball that, you know, carried forward, like what was most impactful for you that you learned from the sport?

Erin Tracy: I would say teamwork. There's nothing but you can have all the ideas in the world, you can have all the success in the world, but if you don't have people behind you helping you, you're only going to go as far as the weakest person on your team. And that's what I loved about it, honestly, is just the camaraderie. The, you know, if somebody made a mistake playing third base. You know, us other eight women were able to say, you got this. Come on, let's go. Get yourself pumped back up. Like, nobody loses because of one play. One person, one mistake. It's a team effort, always has been, always will be. And just being able to, like, lift other people up during hard times sometimes on the team.

And, you know, with these girls, I was with them since eighth grade on, playing varsity softball. And, like, I became. I knew them, I knew their families, and it's just one big family almost being able to. Everyone's supporting each other. If this person's going through a hard time, this person's going to pick them back up. So definitely teamwork and camaraderie.

Brian Harbin: Was there a favorite moment memory game that stands out?

Erin Tracy: My senior year, we made the playoffs, and we actually made the playoffs every year that I played. But my senior year, there's a town that's five minutes from us. And they were so good. They always beat us every year. It did not matter. And we made it to…. It's called sectional finals, so we're both Class C champions, and we had to beat them to move on.

And again, they were incredible. They're so good. And we were down five to nothing in the fifth inning, and I was so sick of losing to them. And I just. I huddled everybody up, and my coach, Jill, still tells the story to this day. And I got everybody in the circle, and I said, we are not effing losing to them again. And everyone got so hype. Everyone's running around jumping, and we didn't. We somehow rallied back with two innings, and we won eight to seven. And it's honestly the highlight of my. Any sports moment I've ever had, but it was. And we went on, and we went to states that year, and it was a lot of fun, but she tells that story all the time.

Brian Harbin: I love the passion.

Erin Tracy: Yeah. Oh, my gosh! Yes.

Jennifer: And how did softball guide where you ended up going to college? How did you...

Erin Tracy: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I originally went to Potsdam up in New York for a year, and then I transferred over to Oswego, where I was a starter immediately and then became a captain. Yeah. And. Which was about 45 minutes from my hometown.

Brian Harbin: Yeah. So tell us about being a college athlete and kind of that experience, I mean.

Erin Tracy: I mean, it was the time of my life, honestly. It's a lot of work because you obviously, you have a full school schedule, and then you're an athlete. So you're traveling all the time. But it was... I would do it a million times over if I could. I wish I could go back to those moments and say, just enjoy this. Like, don't rush to get to the real world. Don't rush to get a full time job. Enjoy this moment. It's four years, they're going to be over before you know it.

But I had the best time in college. We weren't the best, we weren't the best, but we had a great time. We, again, it's much similar to high school. We had everybody picking each other up all the time. We traveled a lot. We came to Florida for tournaments, we went to Myrtle Beach for tournaments. It was just so nice to be a part of something so much again, so much bigger than yourself. And yeah, I just, I loved college.

[Crosstalk]

Brian Harbin: Oh, sorry.

Jennifer: And did being on the softball team guide you into. How did you get, how did you decide you were going to go into nursing? Like, you know your...

Erin Tracy: Yeah. So my dad's a doctor. My mom was RT when I was growing up. So I just, I knew I wanted to do something medical. I didn't know what. I originally, when I went to Oswego, was in the biology program because I thought I wanted to be a physician assistant. And then I took organic chemistry and I said, oh, this is not for me.

So I kind of was still unsure what I wanted to do. Again, I knew I wanted medical something. I just, and at first I really didn't want to be a nurse. I just, I thought, oh, I want to do something bigger. And then my dad's wife, she was a nurse. She's a nurse practitioner now. But she was really inspiring to me because she was working in the ER and my dad's an ER physician also. And they just had the best stories. And I'd be like, oh, my God, I want to see this. And I always found myself being like, what happened at work today? Did so and so do this? Did this happen? And what was the craziest thing you saw?

And my favorite stories were always them just hearing like, we saved this person, we did this. We, you know, this person came in and basically dead. And we revived them and they went home to their kids, you know. And I just knew at some point I wanted to be able to say, like, go home to my family and be like, I saved this person today. And so that's really kind of what started drawing me into nursing.

Jennifer: Wow!

Brian Harbin: And so what did that look like? Graduating college, I guess, going to nursing school. Did you stay up in New York at that time, or…?

Erin Tracy: No, I actually I came down here. So in 2010, I was just coming down to visit and I decided to stay. And my dad was like, oh, okay, [Crosstalk] … yeah, yeah. And again, still not knowing exactly. And I think I was at a pivotal moment in my life where I was like, I don't know what I'm doing. And I think a lot of college graduates feel like that. They're like, okay, I finished, but where do I go from here? Like, do I want to continue on schooling? Do I just get this entry level job and start working 9 to 5? And I just wasn't settled. And I just kept trying to figure out, what am I going to do? Like, how am I going to... I can't just sit here, right? I need to get a good job. I want to make a difference.

And I just, honestly, I just started Googling, like, nursing schools around here, and I was like, I'll just get my foot in the door and, you know, if I want to continue on schooling after, I will. And so, yeah, I applied, I got accepted immediately, and the rest is history.

Jennifer: Is there anything that guided you into oncology in your nursing school or….?

Erin Tracy: So, weirdly enough, I knew I've always been super interested in childhood cancer. I have no idea why. Growing up, I did not know a single person, but I was that girl that would get a postcard in the mail from a third world country being like, sponsor this child for 80 cents. And I'd be like 10 years old crying, be like, how can I help them? And I'd go to my parents and be like, we need to sponsor this child. And they're like, stop.

And so, I don't know, I just was always really drawn to it. And then when I was in nursing, one of my friends in Pulaski, actually her little girl, got diagnosed with leukemia at 18 months old. And I was just like, there is a reason why I'm so drawn to this. And I immediately wanted to do something to help her and to help anybody.

So I really started researching about childhood cancer. And I saw that only 4% of all research funding. And I'm like, that's what I need to get into. Like, we have incredible nonprofits around here that help families and financially and do dreams and just help them in different ways. But there was nothing around here that I could find that, like, dug into the why, the how. How can we stop this? How can we get better treatment options?

So I was working at Mayo Clinic at the time, and I applied to Wilson's for the oncology floor. Immediately rejected. Like, honestly, it was, like, in 10 minutes, I refreshed my app, and it said denied. And I was like, oh, very competitive. Okay. And so I kept applying. I ended up applying 17 times before I finally got an interview. And this is... It's actually crazy. I was sitting at Mayo. I applied again on my lunch. Immediately got rejected.

So I picked up the phone, and I called a recruiter, and I'm like, please help me understand this. I was like, I've been in nursing for five years. I work at the Mayo Clinic on the organ transplant floor. I have my BSN. Please tell me what do I have to do? And the recruiter's like, oh, you work at Mayo? And I was like, yes. And she goes, all right, let me talk to the manager, and I'll see if we can... And I had an interview the next day. Wow! So it's just like, that part was so frustrating, because why did I have to apply 17 times? And then, you know... But whatever. That was in 2017, I got the job, and I've been there ever since.

Jennifer: That number, that stat that you brought up, I learned that from you. The 4% that only out of all of the cancer research, only 4% of it goes to pediatric. That blew me away. And another thing that I learned from you is that since 1980, there's only been three new treatments developed for pediatric cancer. That seems like such a long period, I mean.

Erin Tracy: It is.

Jennifer: There's so much. There's so many things. There's so many programs and charities that talk about all the different types of cancer. That was really shocking to me that for kids, that there haven't been more developments recently. It just blew my mind.

Erin Tracy: Yeah, it's devastating, really. And I see it, obviously, daily. I see the drugs that we give and the side effects that they give. But yeah, three new drugs specifically for pediatrics.

Jennifer: And so, when you were at the nurse, when you got into Mayo finally. And is... Is that when... How long after that did... I mean, how did Fourth and Gold come about? Like, in your...

Erin Tracy: So I started working at Wilson's in 2017. I had my interview in August. I officially started in October. And like I mentioned, my friend in Plaska, her little girl got diagnosed. So first I reached out to her, and I was like, what can we do to help you?

And I had a Cricut at the time. I'm like the least creative person ever, and I made a shirt for her little girl. And I think it said like, cancer picked the wrong kid. And on the back it said warrior. And I mailed it up to them, and then I was like, oh, I want to do more of this. Like, this was kind of fun. And so they had a big fundraiser for her. So I made their whole... I think I made like 200 shirts for them. And then cutting …. [crosstalk]

Jennifer:  Day and night with your Cricut, to like, make such a huge difference.

Erin Tracy: Yes. And it said like, team Charlie, because her little girl's name is Charlie. And so then I was like, oh, this is like, awesome. Let me, I want to do more of this. But I didn't really know what to do. So then I just made a shirt that said, fight kid cancer, go gold. And I was like, I'll just open up an Etsy shop and, you know, just see what it does if we can sell any shirts. And I did. We started selling shirts pretty quickly.

And then I started doing a fundraiser for Cure Childhood Cancer, which is a foundation in Atlanta. And that first year I think I was able to raise 2500 and I donated to them. And then, so I did that 2018, 2019.

And you know, I think overall I raised maybe like 8 or 9,000 for them. And in 2020, during COVID, which was a horrific time, I had two kids that I was really close with relapse back to back with leukemia, and they both ended up passing within two weeks of each other. And you know, with COVID everything was so isolated. You couldn't go out with anybody. You couldn't really mourn, you couldn't grieve. I couldn't go to her funeral. It was just like... Because at the end of the day, I still have all those kids on the unit that I need to protect.

And at that time, we had no idea what was going on with COVID. We didn't know. I mean, I felt like I could get it from looking at somebody. And our kids have no immune systems at all. And so I stayed away from the funeral. And it just was really, really, really hard to feel like I was just watching people die and not be able to do anything about it.

And so I met with a business coach and I said, I want to start a non profit. And she's like, no, you work a full time job. Like, do not do that. It's a nightmare to keep up with paperwork. It's really hard. It's basically a full time job, and you're already working one. She's like, just start an LLC. And I said, but I can't do it. I can't do what I want to do with an LLC, right? I can't take donations. I can't... There's so much limited stuff that I can do. And she just was very adamant, like, you are going to be overwhelmed. I really don't recommend doing it. I was like, okay.

So I went home and the weeks passed by. And another friend reached out to me. She said, start a nonprofit. She's like, this is ridiculous. You are raising money for other foundations. You don't know where that money's going. Because we did Alex's Lemonade Stand, we did Cure Childhood Cancer. She's like, you know, we're not dumb. Everyone has an overhead, right? Like, you're sending $2,000. Am I really making a difference? Maybe, maybe not. Like, I don't know 100% where that money goes. And she's like, you can do this. It's COVID. Like, the hospital's not as busy right this second. Like, go do it.

Jennifer: Good friend.

Erin Tracy: Yeah, yeah. So I was like, okay. So I went and met with her and, you know, everything really happened quickly after that. I applied for the 501C3 accreditation. I talked to people about being on our board of directors, and I mean, it just... I got approved within a month, which they said it could take eight to nine months. I got the letter and approval on July 8th of 2020, and it just took off from there.

Brian Harbin: And why Fourth and Gold? How did you come up with that name?

Erin Tracy: I love football. Eat, sleep, and breathe it. My family is huge into football, and it's just a way that we've always bonded. So fourth and goal in football, you know, you're going for it. You're either getting the first down, you're getting this touchdown, whatever. So we're going for the cure. And 4, I wanted to be really predominant in people's minds because only 4% of all research funding goes to childhood cancer. So I love when people ask me, because I say, you know, fourth and goal, fourth and gold. And gold is the color of childhood cancer awareness.

Brian Harbin: Yeah, no kidding. So tell us what that journey's been like. So you got it off the ground? You know, really started. I know you guys have done a lot of fundraising over the years. I think you're looking as close to half a million in the past few years. And so tell us about some of the ways that you guys raise funds and kind of raise that awareness.

Erin Tracy: So when I first became the 501C3, obviously everything shut down with COVID so I couldn't do anything at first. It was a lot of word of mouth, a lot of Facebook fundraisers, a lot of just random donations here and there. But once we were able to start hosting events again, we do yearly kickball tournaments, dodgeball tournaments, cornhole tournaments, we have a yearly gala.

And I always... Childhood cancer is such a heavy, heavy, heavy topic. Nobody wants to talk about it and rightfully so. It's really hard to talk about, it's really hard to see. But these families don't get to turn it off and they don't get to turn the channel. And so we want our events to be really fun and lighthearted where we can bring together different types of communities. Like, our kickball tournaments are really fun because we have about 25 or 30 teams each year and half of them are families impacted by childhood cancer and the other half are just people who want to go have fun.

And I get to collide the two worlds and people are like, wow, I had no idea. And our events are all about awareness first, funding later. I fully believe if your heart is in the right spot and you maximize your awareness presence, that the funds will follow when they're supposed to. And so this last kickball tournament I had, the winner was a construction company who doesn't know a single child with childhood cancer. And they won the tournament. After, they came up to me and the one guy was like, I just want to donate $1,000. Like, this is incredible. We had the best time. We had no idea about all this.

And then his friend’s like, I'm going to double that. And it's like they've never even been impacted. And we were able to change what they knew about childhood cancer, but in a fun way, a lighthearted way. They're having a fun kickball tournament all day and now they're completely moved and changed. And similar with our dodgeball tournaments. It's a fun day. We partner with JU and have it at the gymnasium there.

And again, like this year we have a couple teams that are people that work at Target. And we're able to bring them and see, like, this is the family that you're fighting for. This is the family that deserved more and more. You know, 43 kids get diagnosed today and it doesn't matter who you are. You can have all the money in the world. You can have no money. You could be Black, White, Asian, it doesn't matter. And everyone needs to relate that this could be me. This could be my child, my sister, my brother, my grandchild, my niece, my nephew. And I want people to see that and to know, like, start now, like, start raising awareness and funding now. Because maybe in 10 years the treatment isn't what it is now. And it all started with a kickball tournament.

Jennifer:  And you've got… I know, not this upcoming weekend, but next weekend, September 13th, is your fifth annual cornhole tournament, which is going to be so fun.

Erin Tracy: We're really excited for that. I think we have about 30 teams signed up for that. And again, it's another fun night. It's under the lights at Fort Family Park on the turf field. And just another way to bring a bunch of people together. We have some vendors that come out and we partner with Sweet and Salty Sisters. They're a food truck. And once again, they had no idea about childhood cancer, anything about it. And they come to every event now and donate their time to us.

Brian Harbin: Yeah, and you have, you know, obviously such a huge internal drive and you know, obviously it's a lot of work raising money. Where do you feel like, you know, is there kind of a story or something that you feel like in your mind kind of helps inspire you when, you know, you know, it's time to keep going? Obviously you're motivated by the kids that you want to help. But like, is there any particular story that you feel like you really draw from to remind you of, like, okay, this is the bigger vision, the bigger purpose.

Erin Tracy: And as you mentioned, it's hard sometimes to keep going because this is essentially my life at all times. I work there three and four days a week at the hospital with these kids. But then on my off days, which are non existent, I'm doing Fourth and Gold to try and build them up. And like I mentioned before, when those two kids passed, I was at a breaking point. I either had to get out of that field and go into different sort of nursing or had to counteract it somehow. Which is why I started Fourth and Gold, because it's honestly helped me be a better nurse. Also because I know I am doing everything in those hospital walls with all of the resources we have available for childhood cancer. We are giving these kids the best treatment that we have and we save lives and we save a lot of them. But I know we can do more.

And so when I step out of those walls, I'm able to just transform into a different person that's more of an advocate, not a comforter, not a nurse, not somebody in those hospital walls that is just doing a job. I'm able to know that I can do better.

So I pull from Jake a lot, which is the young man who passed in 2020, and he originally got diagnosed in 2018. And he was a mascot at Yulee High School. He's a DJ. He's the life of the party. I promise you, if he was still here, he would be president in 20 years. I mean, he is just the most fun, spirited, crazy kid. And I was very close with him, and I'm still very close with his family. His dad's actually on our board, and he just... He never had bad days.

I mean, he would take chemo, he might get sick, and he'd be like, okay, let's go mascot in two hours. And just the biggest inspiration. And all of these kids are, really. I mean, it's the things that they go through and then do after. I'm like, I'd be on the couch for two weeks and I would be like, have all the sympathy in the world for me. Like, this sucks. But they're just so incredibly inspiring. Like I say each time, this population is so special in a way that I never even knew existed.

So I pull from him a lot. His family thing is Live Like Jake because he, in his 16 years of life or 15 years of life, he lived so large. He was out all the time. He was spending time with his family. He was singing, joking, laughing. We have some celebrities come up to our unit sometimes. He would walk up to each one of them, introduce himself. We had a patient who was inpatient for her 15th birthday. He came up, DJ'd her 15th birthday in the hospital when he’s still battling leukemia himself. And he just... Him and his family both are just incredible.

So I always think, you know, when I'm tired and I'm like, I can't see this anymore, they don't get to turn the channel. They are coming up on five years without him. Actually, his birthday is this week or next week. And they don't get to just turn that off. And these families don't get to turn that off. And there are several kids like that that I'm very inspired by and close with. But he is one of the heart and souls about why I started Fourth and Gold.

Brian Harbin: I love that. And you know, especially for somebody that is as kind hearted as you are, I mean, going through that amount of trauma and seeing families that have to go through it, I mean, how do you go through it and then how do you help families? I mean, I know it's something that you can never fix and it's always a part of them that's going to be taken away. But how do you help coach people through that?

Erin Tracy: So nurse Erin and Fourth and Gold Erin are very different. I try and keep them very separate. It's two separate things. But as a nurse, when I'm there, I obviously do anything I can to comfort them during their darkest hours. Right? You sit with them, you talk with them, you let them vent, you assure them that you're doing everything you can. Outside of that, it's my advocacy, right? I'm spending all of my off days from the hospital advocating. I'm meeting with senators, I'm writing letters, I'm obviously running a foundation.

And I don't introduce Fourth and Gold to anybody, any parents inside those hospital walls. Everything that people hear is outside of those hospital walls via social media, word of mouth or whatever, because that blurs lines. And I don't want any family to ever feel like they need to be a part of our organization or feel like they need to be more connected because they're going through it. They absolutely don't. That's why I'm here, right? To stand when they can't. And families are tired, kids are tired. They need someone who is not facing this daily within their own family to stand up and advocate.

A lot of foundations are started by families who went through it or who lost a child or went through the pits of hell and crawled their way out of it. But they get tired. And I'm not someone who's constantly in it. I don't go home to it. I don't have phone... I see it at the hospital and I get to go home at night and these families don't. So that is what I think about a lot.

At the end of the 12, 13 hours I get to go home. And some of these families don't take their babies home. So I just try and close my eyes and just remember, this is needed in so many different ways. And if I don't do it, who's going to? Right? I mean, in two years, we've funded almost half a million in research grants. And if I'm not doing that, who is? Right?

And so people... Again, I don't talk about it in the hospital because I don't want the lines blurred. But when people and families hear that, oh, Erin's the one who started Fourth and Gold, they're the ones screaming it from the rooftops. Right? Because we are very transparent. We post anytime we do a research grant and what it was for, how much money it was for, and we don't have an overhead. We're all volunteer based. And families are super just trusting and rightfully so. They need transparency.

And so I'm sometimes maybe too transparent of where the money goes or what we're doing. But just to have the trust of families who are in the worst moments of their lives is everything to me. So I would never do anything to jeopardize that.

Jennifer: I think that it's pretty obvious you are a giant gift from God to all these families. I'm just very... Sorry. As a mom, you know, that's the worst thing that I think. Parents that hear about this and want to be involved, but I can kind of understand that they want to turn the channel, because there's nothing. But there isn't anything that is more terrifying as a parent than anything happening to your child. There's nothing in the world. So I understand how people may want to be involved and they just go, I can't... Because your empathy will draw you into a place you can't imagine.

Erin Tracy: Absolutely.

Jennifer: And so your strength for these families is just really overwhelming.

Erin Tracy: Sorry.

Jennifer: No, you're good, you're good.

Jennifer: And I have kind of two questions I would love... I would love to ask you more about what I think is so incredible about your organization — that it's not just getting more research for just basic treatment, but the types of treatment that's different than adult, you know...

Erin Tracy: Yeah.

Jennifer: Keeping in mind that these are developing, these are developing people and they're young and their bodies, you know, the things that we put in them affect them for the rest of their lives.

Erin Tracy: Absolutely.

Jennifer: And I would like to ask you first, you have to be kept strong as well. You're strong for them. Where do you feel like, where do you draw that strength from to be able to take all this on and see what you see and have it obviously affect you as a person, but not let it, you know, weigh you down?

Erin Tracy: I think seeing what I see. Right? When I see a child run out of treatment options or pass away from side effects from their treatments, it just brings up this anger inside of you that is like, this is not right. This is not fair. No human should endure that, but no human should watch that. Right? And I shouldn't see that. My coworkers shouldn't see a child run out of treatment options and there's nothing left we can do for them. And that... it's horrific.

So you can go one of two ways. You can be very sad, which I obviously get very sad, but that sadness has turned into anger. And why are we not supporting our most vulnerable population? Why? And I say 4%, it's 3.8. It's just easier to round to 4. Why are we giving 3.8% of research funding to kids who are going to run our country someday, who are going to be contributing to society, who are going to... they need to grow up and we're not helping them do that.

And you know, you can say that in a lot of different ways. The school shootings... why are we not protecting our kids more? And this is just the topic that I'm very, very passionate about. But I think when you see what pediatric oncology medical staff see, you would completely understand that. It's so hard to just sit back and watch. And I have the best coworkers in the world. They all are very supportive of Fourth and Gold. They come to our events, they share our stuff on social media. Our doctors are very supportive, very involved with us.

And when you take that step to get people who are actually in the field involved, it's almost like you can't walk away from it because you have so many people believing in who you are and what you're doing that if you walked away, who's going to pick that up? Right? It's a very heavy burden to carry. So who's going to pick that up? So to answer your question, I do... there are days obviously where I'm like, I can't do this today. Like, I cannot do this today. And I even struggle with that because again, I think, well, the families don't get to say I can't do this today. But I do give myself grace and grief periods because, I mean, I'm human and you have to have grace and grief periods.

But I try and get back up the next day and say, you know, let's write one more email. Let's write to one more senator. Let's plan that trip to Washington in February for Childhood Cancer Action Days. And I have a lot of great supporters around me who will say, like, let me do this for you today. Like, you did this yesterday. Let me take this off you today. Let me respond to those emails. Let me get on that Zoom call. And that has helped me tremendously because we are growing very rapidly, like, way quicker than I could have ever imagined. And I'm getting requests for Zoom calls or emails or anything daily. And it's been a lot in the best possible way. That means we're growing. That means people are hearing about us. But I do have people who step in and say, let me take this today.

Jennifer: Would you mind…. I don't have any medical training.

Erin Tracy: Yeah.

Jennifer: So for all the parents and just people watching who are in my boat that don't understand a lot of this stuff, would you kind of break down for us what it is that it's not just cancer research, but the types of, kind of the differences that you're...

Erin Tracy: Yeah. So right now, you know, standard of treatment mostly is chemotherapy, radiation — both very toxic. Effective in some instances, but very, very toxic. Right? Even if you've seen an adult go through cancer treatment, it's horrific. It's horrific. So now imagine that in a 1 year old, a 15 year old, a 7 year old — and it is the most grueling thing I've ever seen.

So chemo wipes out every cell in your body, the good and the bad. And we love that it wipes out the bad, but at what cost? Wiping out the good? You have no immune system for weeks, years, months on end. One of the biggest side effects is what we call mucositis. It's really bad sores that can start in your mouth, go all the way down your GI tract. And I say imagine having strep throat and multiply that by 150. You can't swallow, you can't talk. It is just so painful — blisters throughout your whole GI tract. The obvious hair loss, right? As a kid, that can be very devastating.

Secondary cancers is a big side effect from chemotherapy later in life. Ninety-five percent of childhood cancer survivors have a chronic disease or illness later in life. Heart failures, organ failures, graft versus host disease if you get a transplant — I mean, the side effects are endless. And obviously death, right? If you have no immune system and you get exposed to a cold — cold for us, we continue our day. Cold for a kid with cancer — in the ICU. And it's a common cold.

And when I realized that that was the main treatment we give kids, I was like, no way. Like, no way. There's got to be something more. So we partner with the Children's Oncology Group, and they're a group based out of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. And if any child in the United States is diagnosed with cancer, their treatment comes from them. So they write what's called roadmaps. And say someone gets diagnosed with leukemia — we get a roadmap for their treatment. It's like, on this day, they get this. On this day, they get this. So we partner with them. And when I first reached out to them, I told them our mission, which is funding less toxic cures. And we really started zoning in on immunotherapies and CAR T therapy.

So immunotherapy uses your own cells and it attaches... So immunotherapy — we teach it to attach only to the bad cells. So a lot of times, one of the things we're really, really focused on is a drug called blinatumomab. And when I first started pediatric nursing in 2017, it was a study drug. I saw it maybe once a year. The kid would have to be hospitalized for the full 28 days and then go home. Because of the side effects, they have to be hospitalized — it's so new, you watch them.

Last year, we funded part of a blinatumomab trial for leukemia, and it is now standard of treatment. So those kids get to come in for 24 hours. They get the drug, we put it in a backpack for them to go home with, and they're on it for 28 days straight. The side effects are so minimal, and there's very few long-term side effects. There's no hair loss from it. There's no mouth sores from it. Their immune system doesn't change from it. And that was a huge win for me. That was the first time where I was like, oh wow — we really are kind of changing the trajectory.

And we see that weekly now, whereas when I first started, I saw it once a year maybe, and the kid had to stay in the hospital the whole time. And that has been a huge win for us. Those are the kind of drugs that we're focusing on — the immunotherapies and CAR T cell therapy. So that is, if a child has leukemia or a solid tumor, they go in, we put a line in their neck, we remove their T cells, we genetically modify them, and give them back to them to only fight off the cancer cells in their body — leaving all of their good white cells alone.

And again, it's starting to be... it's not standard of treatment yet, but it's growing really quickly. And I've hoped that in maybe five, ten years, that will be the standard of treatment for a lot of these diseases. And we can, you know, not necessarily get rid of chemo as a whole, but really focus less on chemo and more on the immunotherapies.

Brian Harbin: Now, is that available only at the hospital in Philadelphia or is it just...

Erin Tracy: A lot of different hospitals do. Depends on if you're registered, if you can do phase one or two trials. A lot of hospitals can only do phase three, so a lot of kids do have to travel different places. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia does do it as frontline treatment. I know Children's Hospital of Atlanta does it. The trial that we funded — they're out in Seattle. So Seattle Children's does it, but it's starting to become more readily available at other hospitals.

Brian Harbin: Well, I was going to say too. It seems like one of the challenges that you had initially too is to, once you have the money, where can we focus these funds to make sure... But so a lot of the 4% of the money that is being raised is kind of happening at these hospitals that you're mentioning, like Philadelphia.

Erin Tracy: So the 4% comes from the National Institute of Health. So they're allotted a budget every single year. And then they get the 3.8%, and then they distribute it through the research centers. So it's up to foundations like Fourth and Gold, Alex's Lemonade Stand, St. Baldrick's, who focus strictly on research, to kind of cover that 96% gap.

Brian Harbin: And then, I guess basically to get it from like a phase one or phase two to a phase three so it becomes more widely adopted. Does it just need more production of it? And so that's where the cost comes?

Erin Tracy: In a certain amount of trials just in the lab, it can prove that you can get it from this step to the next step successfully. And then a lot of times the next step is using it on mice. And honestly, mice are very expensive. An immunocompromised mouse — about $11,000. I've learned that. I know, I've learned that doing all these grants.

So then you start on the mice, and then you have to prove that the mice are responding well, and then you have to take it to the next step. And then you have a small group of patient population that you can start it on. And usually that patient population is kids who have already run out of treatment options. And then you try it on those children. And if there's a response on those children, then you can open up to a bigger trial. And then it eventually gets approved. But that takes a long time. Years and years and years.

Brian Harbin: So it's just a matter of continually supporting it, correct? Yeah. One of the things that you've said a few times now that really resonates is: if not you, then who? Right? If not me, then who?

And I think that's such a phenomenal mentality that is way beyond yourself. And I think it's just very inspiring. And I know that there's other people that have seen what you've done and hopefully are helping create that snowball towards... What would you say too, in terms of... I know you mentioned there's times to kind of create space for, you know, grace and grief. What are ways that you have built in — I know obviously you're an athlete, you love sports and the Jags — but how do you kind of build in that recovery for yourself in terms of just, you know, creating space as an entrepreneur, as a full time nurse and all these things? How do you feel like you kind of create that?

Erin Tracy: I... We actually created a run club for Fourth and... I know I try and get away from it sometimes, but we do. We run on Thursdays and Tuesday mornings. And that's really helpful because again, it's brought in people who aren't directly involved but like to run. They come hang out with us, we go to trivia after sometimes, or we go to coffee in the mornings.

And I love to travel. I'm going to Cincinnati this weekend to watch the Jags play. And that's a big thing for me — just getting out of my head and just traveling. We're going to Cincinnati this week and I'm going to Vermont at the end of the month. So I do a lot of traveling. I'm really very close with my family, my parents, my siblings. We're all, you know, love each other and hang out and they're all super supportive. They're at every single event and just, you know, they're like my biggest hype squad. And I have the best family and friends.

And yeah, I just... I don't like to necessarily be idle because that just — ideas flow and I can't, you know, I can't do every idea that I have. So I kind of just like to be out and moving. And honestly, I get a lot of my ideas when I'm running. Whether it's Fourth and Gold or whatever. And just trying to take care of my mind the best way that I can. I like to read a lot. I like to hang out with my dog and my fiancé. And we just... I try and make a time where it's like, no phones, put the phones down, put the laptop away. I recently just... So I'm like the sole communicator with Fourth and Gold.

And I recently just created a different email that — instead of everything going straight to my email address, it can go to a couple other people on the board. And that's really helped me because it's really hard for me to delegate where I'm just like, no, I'll do it. I got it. I'll do it when I get home. And then now I'm letting people start to step in more to give me a little bit more grace and time.

Jennifer: I'm sure they're happy to do that.

Erin Tracy: They are. They're incredible.

Jennifer: Yeah, we can take some of this off. Has there been anything else, like, as far as running a nonprofit — what's that kind of been like? Anything that you didn't expect or just...

Erin Tracy: As far as like didn't expect... I didn't expect to have quote, unquote, like, competition throughout the nonprofit world. I thought everybody just kind of worked together and everybody loves each other and does the same mission. And like, there's nonprofits that I... we do totally different things — and that I thought would maybe want to support more, you know, and that just doesn't happen. So I was very, very shocked by that. I thought, you know, everybody was nonprofits and everybody wants to work together and have a great time and change the world.

Jennifer: And that's interesting because that is surprising.

Erin Tracy: Yeah.

Jennifer: Like you said, you think everyone, like, we're all in this to help this cause. That is such a purposeful good thing.

Erin Tracy: Yeah.

Jennifer: And I'm guessing like each organization is like, well, mine sort of. You know, when your kids all have exams the same day.

Erin Tracy: Yeah. Yeah. Well, my exam is the most. Yeah, you really got to focus on...

Jennifer: Because they really do believe in their organization, which is good. I could see.

Erin Tracy: And I believe in theirs too. You know, I don't... I will shout from the rooftops of all the nonprofits that I know in the city that do so much to help so many different people. And I just... I don't know. I just was kind of caught off guard that a lot is more like a business versus like a family, which is fine. I just was kind of surprised by it.

Brian Harbin: And just two more questions I was going to ask. So with that, you know, obviously, you've raised half a million at this point. In order to raise more funds, do you think it's... Where do you feel like that's going to come from? Is it having more events and creating more awareness? Or where do you feel like that next level of fundraising is going to be able to come for you guys?

Erin Tracy: Yeah, and that's actually been a big topic this year because we do just have those four signature events, and we're trying to figure out where and how we can get more. So we have incorporated more like single night, spirit night events with different companies throughout the city, like Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, where you go in there, you say, hey, I'm here for Fourth and Gold. They donate 25% or whatever back to us.

But a lot of it, again, is word of mouth, social media presence. Our gala is a huge event. Last year was our first one. We raised 52,000. We haven't even had it yet this year, and we're right around 42,000. And you know, the event hasn't even kicked off yet.

Jennifer: And that's coming up November 13th.

Erin Tracy: Is that right? November 13th. Yes. I'm really excited about that one. And just getting ourselves out there, really. Obviously our events are huge and the biggest part of the fundraising that we have. But when you can connect with people who believe in your mission, they start to do it for you. They start to go out and be like, you need to donate to them. This is what they're doing. Let me show you their projects.

Our biggest supporters are families who have walked this journey, whether they're bereaved families or survivor families. And they... I think they latch on to wanting to make sure their child or their friends or in 10 years down the road don't have to go through what their child went through. And they're some of our biggest supporters. And that, to me, means the world to me, obviously. Because when you have someone who's going through what you are fighting for believe in you like that — there's just nothing better than that. So definitely word of mouth, definitely events, social media presence, for sure.

Brian Harbin: I love it! A great site too that you've got. And our last question — we always like to ask our guest about the Grit Creed, which are 12 principles that we're trying to bake into the next generation. But of the 12 principles of the Grit Creed, which one do you think resonates most with you and why?

Erin Tracy: I love the, “I'm not a problem spotter. I'm a problem solver.” Obviously, there’s a million and five different problems in this world, and we can all complain about it and talk about it — but you have to step up and do something about it if you want it to change, right? You can say, you know, like — obviously, this has been a heavy few days in our world, and there are so many different sides to that. But if you're not going to step up and start changing it, if you're just going to say something on social media, like “this has to stop”... what are you going to do to stop that?

So you see the problem. It’s spotted, right? Everybody sees it. But who's going to be the one to step in and do that? And I’m so thankful that I have been given that motivation and that passion to be the one who steps in and says, “No more.” Like, not in my lifetime. If I were to ever have kids, I want them to grow up in a world that — God forbid they got diagnosed with cancer — that I could take them to the pediatrician and be like, “Oh, it's going to be two weeks of this pill, and you’ll be on your way.” And our generation deserves that. And the kids below us deserve that.

So I’m thankful for that one. And then I also like “I will lead by example because the purpose is bigger than me.” I have not been directly impacted before I started this job at Wolfson’s, and I just was given a passion and a purpose that is so much bigger than me. And again, if I walked away, then who's going to carry that torch? Like, I’m doing a disservice to so many different people in so many communities if I said this isn't for me anymore.

So... and I think I can do it because I was given a purpose bigger than me, and a passion bigger than who you are.

Jennifer: I can only imagine how many future Erins you are mentoring now that you don’t even know.

Erin Tracy: Yeah. Right. Right. Absolutely.

Jennifer: Helping to create.

Brian Harbin: Yeah. What I found so inspirational about your story is that, you know, you started your career job, you identified a problem, and then you created a way to figure it out and solve it. And it just— we need more people like you. And I think you’re definitely inspiring a lot of people along the way. So we loved learning about you today and sharing your message. So thank you again for being on!

Erin Tracy: Thank you so much for having me!

Brian Harbin: And be sure to check her out at FourthandGold.org. So that's a wrap for today’s episode of the Grit.org Podcast.

Thanks again, and we’ll see you guys next time!