It’s hard to believe this is the seventh year we will participate in the Jimmy Fund Walk with our daughter, Allie, a Cancer survivor, to raise money in support of the patient-centered cancer care and cutting-edge research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston!
This June marked the eighth anniversary of Allie’s remission from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (“A.L.L.”). As many of you are aware, she was diagnosed with this deadly illness as a 27 year-old in May, 2015. She had to undergo a grueling two-year regimen of chemotherapy in order to recover. We will never forget the wonderful care she received from her Oncologist, Dr. Dan DeAngelo, and her equally amazing medical team at Dana-Farber throughout this very difficult two years.
Allie was the beneficiary of a protocol that had been developed in a clinical trial led by Dr. DeAngelo, a world-renowned blood cancer expert. This protocol has been the utilized to treat young adults facing her form of Leukemia throughout the US and the world. Allie, now 36, continues to thrive and enjoy her life. But, we never forget what it was like to live through such an unimaginable ordeal and feel duty-bound to support those who are presently battling cancer. And, we will forever be grateful to DFCI for giving us our daughter back. Walking and raising funds to prevent and treat cancer is one way we can give back.
You may wonder why you should donate to a cancer center in Boston. But, in addition to supporting our team and honoring Allie, your contribution benefits all of us. DFCI is the setting not only for exceptional care for patients who come from all over, but also for breakthrough clinical trials and cancer research. As I mentioned above, the protocol developed by Allie’s Oncologist has become the basis for treating young-adult A.L.L. patients world-over. And Dana-Farber researchers discovered the PD-L1 pathway-- the protein hiding Cancer from the Immune System. This discovery has literally enabled the development of treatments that harness the immune system to attack cancer. This is only one of many cancer breakthroughs Dana-Farber researchers are responsible for. In addition to patient care and this critical research, your donation will help to support the clinical trials that lead to such breakthroughs, and among other things, assistance for wigs and prosthesis at the Friend’s Place for patients undergoing treatment, mobile skin cancer and Mammography screenings in the community, needs-based assistance for families going through financial hardships related to a cancer diagnosis and guidance and support for families facing cancer.
Most of us have been impacted by cancer in some way and it benefits everybody to fund major cancer centers like Dana-Farber that offer wonderful patient care and do critical cancer research. And the need is even greater under these difficult circumstances. Like many other large institutions, Dana-Farber has lost millions of dollars as a result of the pandemic, but people continue to get cancer and to need the world-class treatment and compassionate care they offer.
We are humbly asking for donations to our 10/1/23 Jimmy Fund Walk in honor of Allie. Over the last six years, Allie’s Team, The Acute Lymphomaniacs, has raised $136,746.00 to benefit patient care and research at Dana-Farber. Our 2022 Team total was our best effort so far, at $25,882.00! In 2022, over 7500 participants walked and they raised over $8.3 million dollars!
The Jimmy Fund Walk is one of the important fundraising tools that DFCI relies upon to fund its work. Your donation is tax deductible and will advance the fight against cancer. Let's work together to defy and eradicate cancer! Any support, no matter how small, will be most appreciated. Please support this amazing effort to fight cancer! Thanks for your continued support!
