Candlelighters' funds have met many direct needs of the patients and their families, such as travel back and forth to the hospital, purchase of medications not covered by other sources and assistance during long hospitalizations with funding for parents' meals, parking costs, and other special needs.

Candlelighters make a monthly donation to the Ronald McDonald House, assuring out-of-town families in the UMC Children's Cancer Program have overnight housing, when necessitated by their child's outpatient treatment schedules. The Ronald McDonald House can also be used by families when they have a very sick child in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, or the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, or when a long hospitalization is required on the pediatric oncology floor of the Children's Hospital.  Candlelighters makes it possible for the families of children with cancer to utilize the Ronald McDonald House facilities with no charge to the families.

Another need met by Candlelighters for many years now is the provision of a stipend to cover personal expenses incurred for patients undergoing bone marrow transplant.

Candlelighters provides funds to purchase a number of periodicals and informational books for parents of newly diagnosed children.  The doctors, staff and oncology social workers have relied on and continue to rely on Candlelighter funds to provide the best information possible.

In 1999 UMC Candlelighters established a college scholarship fund available to UMC Children's Cancer Program patients who are enrolled in post high school studies.

The Candlelighters organization has also been invaluable in meeting special needs of the cancer program itself. An example of the Candlelighters' contributions to the teaching and research activities at the UMC Children's Cancer Center is the purchase of a ten-headed teaching microscope, which has served as an invaluable teaching tool for our residents and fellows.