{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/local-spotlight-cassidy-honors-new-orleans-native-walker-beerys-legacy-during-pediatric-brain-cancer-awareness-month/", "LOCAL SPOTLIGHT: Cassidy Honors New Orleans Native Walker Beery\u2019s Legacy During Pediatric Brain Cancer Awareness Month", "2026-09-30", "2026", "2026-09", "Republican", "Senate", "LA", "Bill Cassidy", "C001075", "www.cassidy.senate.gov", "cassidy", "https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/?jsf=jet-engine:press-list", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), for his monthly Local Spotlight, honored the legacy of New Orleans native Walker Beery and his family\u2019s work through Kids Join the Fight during Pediatric Brain Cancer Awareness Month. Walker\u2019s story is a reminder that even the smallest act of kindness can make a lasting difference. Each month, Cassidy highlights a local story that truly reflects Louisiana values of humility, respect, and resiliency.\n\nRead his full September 2026 Local Spotlight below:\n\nThis month\u2019s Local Spotlight recognizes September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, in particular, Pediatric Brain Cancer Awareness Month.\n\nBehind every pediatric cancer diagnosis is a child and family whose lives are forever changed.\n\nOne story I want to share today is that of New Orleans native Walker Beery and his family.\n\nAt just seven years old, Walker was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a pediatric brain cancer.\n\nDuring one of his days in the hospital, another little girl also receiving treatment gave Walker a teddy bear.\n\nShe was going through a difficult time herself, but still wanted to do something kind for someone else.\n\nThis small act inspired Walker to do the same, in an even bigger way.\n\nAnd Kids Join the Fight was born.\n\nWalker dreamed of raising a million dollars to help others and cure pediatric brain cancer.\n\nAlthough sadly Walker passed away on September 4, 2021, before he could reach his goal, his family was determined to finish what he started.\n\nBefore the end of that same year, Kids Join the Fight had raised the million dollars Walker dreamed of.\n\nAnd they kept going.\n\nWhat started as a grassroots effort led by Walker and his friends has grown into an organization helping families, advancing the fight against pediatric cancer, and providing grants to families across the country.\n\nAnd perhaps most importantly, it continues to give children a chance to do what Walker did.\n\nHelp someone else.\n\nNow, Walker\u2019s legacy is taking shape in a very special way right in Louisiana.\n\nThis November, Walker\u2019s Imaginarium will open at Manning Family Children\u2019s Hospital in New Orleans.\n\nIt will give patients and their families a bright, happy place to play, laugh, and experience just a bit of normalcy during an incredibly difficult time.\n\nBecause even when a child is sick, they still deserve to be a child.\n\nThat is what makes Walker\u2019s story so powerful.\n\nHe was a seven-year-old boy who received a teddy bear and decided to then help others.\n\nAnd years later, his family has turned that simple act of kindness into a movement.\n\nThis September, we remember Walker, children like Walker, and the families who fight alongside them.\n\nAnd we celebrate a little boy from New Orleans whose kindness continues to make an impact on many.\n\nMay we all learn to walk with courage, gratefulness, and generosity during hard times.\n\nJust as seven-year-old Walker Beery did.\n\nBackground\n\nIn August, Cassidy commemorated the twenty-first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina by highlighting the partnership between Franklin Avenue Baptist Church and First Baptist New Orleans, illustrating the deep sense of community that binds Louisianans together.\n\n###", 1, "2026-10-01T11:23:28Z", "2026-10-01T11:25:15Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/local-spotlight-cassidy-honors-new-orleans-native-walker-beerys-legacy-during-pediatric-brain-cancer-awareness-month/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8999700658023357, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}