LVS Dedicates 25th Year in Business to Megan’s Mission

Oct 21

Back in September of 1997, LVS started out of a garage as a one-van telecommunications contractor. Today, LVS is the home to 20 full-time office employees and 65 union technicians in a new, ground-up facility with 4 divisions of systems. Reflecting on the last quarter of a century providing the highest quality low voltage technology, we know we would not be the company we are today without the the valued and trusted relationships we’ve built with our customers, vendors, and partners. So many hands extended to ours throughout the journey and we wanted this milestone to represent more than just a celebration of how far we’ve come, but to also commemorate a core value of our business – taking care of others.

Earlier this year, a close family friend of the St. Cin’s passed away from childhood cancer, a disease that has and will continue to touch so many of our lives. After a seven year battle with stage 4 Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma, Megan Bugg tragically passed away on March 9, 2022. However, her life and legacy lives on as she touched countless lives with her message of courage, determination, positivity, and hope. Megan made it her mission to meet the need for childhood cancer research by becoming a passionate advocate raising awareness and fundraising for the cause. Megan’s efforts serve the 450 children, adolescents, and young adults in North America, and more than 9,900 worldwide diagnosed with RMS. At Children’s Cancer Therapy Development Institute (cc-TDI), Megan is referred to as their superstar for her passion and advocacy she showed the childhood cancer research community. To date, and with the unwavering support from the Team Megan Bugg community, Megan raised more than $1.7 million in support of cancer research discoveries, international collaborations, and clinical trials – and the official development of the Megan Bugg Global Rhabdomyosarcoma Research Laboratory at cc-TDI.

On October 6th, LVS hosted 100 of our customers and partners to not only celebrate the 25th milestone, but to also celebrate the life and legacy of Megan Bugg and provide Megan’s Mission with the platform to educate our industry on the lack of funding for childhood cancer research. Megan’s parents, Kent + Debbie Bugg, graciously joined us to speak further on the incredible person Megan’s was, her journey, and illustrated the massive gap in research and funding efforts within the childhood cancer space.

Key Takeaways:
Although there have been significant advances in some forms of childhood cancer such as Leukemia, which thankfully now has a 90% survival rate, there have been little to no advances in other of the 12 major childhood cancers, including the type that Megan had (Rhabdomyosarcoma). The survival rate for Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) has remained unchanged for 50 years, and the chemotherapies used to treat RMS are nearly identical to those used 50 years ago. Other childhood cancers, such as DIPG have a 0% survival rate, which Megan always said was absolutely unacceptable.

On average, there are 12 new drugs created every year to treat adult cancers, but since 1978 there have only been 9 drugs receiving FDA approval for the primary treatment of childhood cancers. The National Institute of Health allocates only 4% of their entire cancer research budget towards researching less toxic and more effective cures for childhood cancers.

Prior to her passing from RMS, Megan funded a study of a drug, and as a result of those studies, the drug is currently being considered by the Children's Oncology Group for a Phase 2 clinical trial. If effective, it would be the first drug ever to receive FDA approval for the primary treatment of RMS. Megan also funded other research studies aimed at studying the effectiveness of immunotherapy on RMS, which is still in motion. She also funded a research project aimed at studying already FDA approved drugs for effectiveness on treating RMS. That study is also still in progress. During her lifetime, Megan fully funded 5 different research projects aimed at finding less toxic and more effective cures for RMS. The Megan's Mission Foundation was formed to carry on Megan's legacy of ending childhood cancer through advocacy and research.

Megan is proof that with advocacy, passion and building community — real change can happen. LVS is committed to supporting Megan’s Mission and the Team Megan community to help fund the necessary work they are doing for children all over the world. For the years to come, we pledge $25K in funding to Megan’s Mission that will directly support the research of Dr. Keller at cc-TDI (Megan chose a doctor to fund directly for to avoid administrative costs and maximize funding). We are committed to providing a platform for their organization to educate, inspire, and encourage involvement in their mission to end childhood cancer.

We encourage you to consider continuing the momentum in funding the critical research needed for our children all over the world: