Monday, June 25, 2007
Worthy Cause
Friends and Family,
I am helping out a good friend and colleague with a fund-raising event. He is riding 192 miles (yes, you read that right, ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY TWO) to raise money for cancer research and treatment. Specifically, Pediatric cancer research and treatment. There are not a lot of us out there who would (or even could) expend the blood, sweat and tears necessary to complete such a tour de force. My friend Dave is doing this for the second straight year.
Now, I know that this is a cause we can all get behind. For those of us unable to get on a bike and ride the 192 miles, lets give what we can and bring the good folks at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute one step closer to finding a cure for this disease that has touched each and every one of us in one way or another.
Thanks so much!
Here is a copy of Dave's blurb on the race and the great cause it supports. Much love to all!!
On August 5th and 6th I’ll again be riding in the Pan Mass Challenge (PMC) to raise money for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. The PMC is a 192 mile, two day bike ride from Sturbridge, MA to Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod. Last year, through the generosity of my friends and family, we contributed $4,870 to the Jimmy Fund, Dana Farber’s fund raising organization. The PMC passed 99 cents of every rider dollar raised to the Jimmy Fund, for a total contribution of $26 million. This is over half of the Jimmy Fund’s annual revenue.
This is great, but we’re not done. Cancer isn’t cured and will strike one of two American men and one of three women. It isn’t all bad news though. The New York Times reported:
It is the contention of many oncologists that they are at a critical point in cancer care. Many said they believed recent laboratory advances in molecular biology and genetics are poised to offer new improvements in treatments for people.
Another is that clinical trials have found new uses for older drugs, raising hopes that they may turn some forms of cancer into a manageable chronic disease. Leaders expressed hope that anti-cancer drugs will soon begin to keep a tumor in check for decades, much as insulin keeps diabetics alive without curing diabetes.
The gains reflect an investment of billions of dollars in research by taxpayers and industry.
Over the past 55 years, survival rates for pediatric oncology patients have increased from 20 to nearly 80 percent, and are as high as 90 percent for some forms of the disease. Dana-Farber's Jimmy Fund Clinic remains one of the world's premier centers for pediatric cancer research and treatment and is part of a medical complex that has made innumerable inroads in the treatment of adult cancers as well. Let’s all give as much as we can to continue this success and to eradicate this deadly disease.
This year I’ve set a goal to raise $5,000. I believe in this cause. My mom died too young of cancer. For each $900 my friends and family donate I’ll donate $100 myself. Please give all you can. You can write a check to the Jimmy Fund or the DFCI, but on-line donations are the most cost efficient for the PMC.
https://www.pmc.org/egifts/giftinfo.asp?eGiftID=DG0117
45 $100 donations and my $500 match will raise $5,000 for this worthy cause; we should be able to do this and more. This may be the best money you spend.
Thank you,Dave
I am helping out a good friend and colleague with a fund-raising event. He is riding 192 miles (yes, you read that right, ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY TWO) to raise money for cancer research and treatment. Specifically, Pediatric cancer research and treatment. There are not a lot of us out there who would (or even could) expend the blood, sweat and tears necessary to complete such a tour de force. My friend Dave is doing this for the second straight year.
Now, I know that this is a cause we can all get behind. For those of us unable to get on a bike and ride the 192 miles, lets give what we can and bring the good folks at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute one step closer to finding a cure for this disease that has touched each and every one of us in one way or another.
Thanks so much!
Here is a copy of Dave's blurb on the race and the great cause it supports. Much love to all!!
On August 5th and 6th I’ll again be riding in the Pan Mass Challenge (PMC) to raise money for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. The PMC is a 192 mile, two day bike ride from Sturbridge, MA to Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod. Last year, through the generosity of my friends and family, we contributed $4,870 to the Jimmy Fund, Dana Farber’s fund raising organization. The PMC passed 99 cents of every rider dollar raised to the Jimmy Fund, for a total contribution of $26 million. This is over half of the Jimmy Fund’s annual revenue.
This is great, but we’re not done. Cancer isn’t cured and will strike one of two American men and one of three women. It isn’t all bad news though. The New York Times reported:
It is the contention of many oncologists that they are at a critical point in cancer care. Many said they believed recent laboratory advances in molecular biology and genetics are poised to offer new improvements in treatments for people.
Another is that clinical trials have found new uses for older drugs, raising hopes that they may turn some forms of cancer into a manageable chronic disease. Leaders expressed hope that anti-cancer drugs will soon begin to keep a tumor in check for decades, much as insulin keeps diabetics alive without curing diabetes.
The gains reflect an investment of billions of dollars in research by taxpayers and industry.
Over the past 55 years, survival rates for pediatric oncology patients have increased from 20 to nearly 80 percent, and are as high as 90 percent for some forms of the disease. Dana-Farber's Jimmy Fund Clinic remains one of the world's premier centers for pediatric cancer research and treatment and is part of a medical complex that has made innumerable inroads in the treatment of adult cancers as well. Let’s all give as much as we can to continue this success and to eradicate this deadly disease.
This year I’ve set a goal to raise $5,000. I believe in this cause. My mom died too young of cancer. For each $900 my friends and family donate I’ll donate $100 myself. Please give all you can. You can write a check to the Jimmy Fund or the DFCI, but on-line donations are the most cost efficient for the PMC.
https://www.pmc.org/egifts/giftinfo.asp?eGiftID=DG0117
45 $100 donations and my $500 match will raise $5,000 for this worthy cause; we should be able to do this and more. This may be the best money you spend.
Thank you,Dave
Friday, June 08, 2007
Keeping up with the Joneses
Or, in this case, keeping up with the Brownses...we have been doing some work of our own in our backyard. Yes, I know...even though I slave away all week and travel half way across the country, I still take time to do some hard work making our house more liveable. Here are some pics of the latest project where I spent countless hours putting together a patio table and chairs with NO help...
Well...maybe Liska did help a little. :-) She even took the last pic of Hagen and I enjoying the new table she built. Not a bad little photog, eh?
I hope everyone is doing well. For those of you in Cali, I will be in the Bay Area in mid-July if anyone is going to be up there...trying to figure out how I can work a SoCal swing into that trip, but having a difficult time right now.
Much love to all!
jak
Well...maybe Liska did help a little. :-) She even took the last pic of Hagen and I enjoying the new table she built. Not a bad little photog, eh?
I hope everyone is doing well. For those of you in Cali, I will be in the Bay Area in mid-July if anyone is going to be up there...trying to figure out how I can work a SoCal swing into that trip, but having a difficult time right now.
Much love to all!
jak
John Butler Trio
