Dateline DFCI
Generosity helps DFCI achieve record-breaking fundraising year
Thousands of people walk, run, swim, golf, and reach deeply into their pockets annually to support Dana-Farber's patient care and research activities. 2001 was the Institute's most successful fundraising year, with new gifts and pledges during the 12 months that ended in September totaling a record $91.1 million — marking a 30-percent increase over the previous fiscal year's level.
Riders in the 2001 Pan-Massachusetts Challenge were on a roll in DFCI's stellar fundraising year, earning an all-time high total for the Institute.
The single biggest event contributor to DFCI is the Pan-Massachu-setts Challenge, the annual bike-a-thon that in 2001 involved more than 3,100 cyclists, 1,700 volunteers, and pledges from 100,000 supporters. Held Aug. 4-5, the cross-state trek drew Institute staff members including Carolyn Kaelin, MD, a surgical oncologist in the Gillette Center for Women's Cancers. "I was overwhelmed with the power of the event," says Kaelin, who pedaled all 192 miles with Team "WOW" (for Women's Oncology on Wheels). "Watching patients and their caregivers ride together was an incredible experience." Pan-Mass Challenge organizers presented a $14 million check to the Institute in November.
Another successful fundraiser is the Boston Marathon® Jimmy Fund Walk, which generated a record $4 million from its September 2001 event. Nearly 8,200 people — including staff, trustees, patients, and cancer survivors — covered all or part of the historic 26.2-mile route from Hopkinton, Mass., to Copley Square in Boston. Observed staff member Karen Byers of the Environmental Health and Safety Department, "The Jimmy Fund Walk is the Institute's mission on foot and in person."
About two-thirds of all gifts during fiscal year 2001 came from individuals. Long-time DFCI friend Gerhard Andlinger led the contributions with a gift of $5 million to bolster the work of the Lank Center for Gen-itourinary Oncology and encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration, among other initiatives.
More recently, Jack and Shelly Blais gave $3 million toward an extraordinary $10.5 million commitment to support several programs, among them the Institute's High Tech Industry Multidisciplinary Research Fund. That generous act will help expand Dana-Farber's genome-based research services, enabling investigators to apply recent breakthroughs in science and technology, such as gene chips, to make significant inroads against cancer.
