Thurs. Nov. 10th

First, let me begin by expressing our condolences to the family of Bryanna Christie.  Bryanna was one of our local B+ Heroes who will be laid to rest tomorrow.  She was a 12 year old student at East Side Charter School.  Our prayers are with her family as they begin this difficult chapter in their lives.

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Much of what I write on this site deals with our B+ Heroes and the stories of the families that benefit from your generosity through our Family Assistance Program.  Another part of our charter, though, deals with eradicating childhood cancers so that no families ever need to be in this situation.  The federal government is not funding childhood cancer research (<4% of the total NCI cancer research budget), the big, well-known cancer non-profits aren’t adequately funding childhood cancer research (Leukemia & Lymphoma Society <2%, American Cancer Society 1%), and the private sector has deemed childhood cancer  research not profitable enough to pursue.  So, until things change, we need to take care of this ourselves.  I know we are making a difference in many families’ lives with our Family Assistance Program, but it’s somewhat analogous to bailing out a boat with a cup.  Yes, we’re making a difference, but we also need to proactively find a way to plug the hole in the boat.

To that end, I am excited to present to you the recipients of our latest B+ Foundation Childhood Cancer Research Grants.  As you know, in 2009, we awarded the Nemours Center for Childhood Cancer Research with a grant of $250,000 to help fund a “High Throughput Screening” (HTS) device which can evaluate chemical compounds in the Drug Discovery Lab in days as opposed to years for a bench scientist.  Exciting developments have already been realized from the HTS machine.  We expect to be awarding grants on a yearly basis going forward.  This year, we are announcing awards totaling $270,000!  Based upon the proposals received in response to our national ‘Request for Proposals” (RFP), the 2011 grant winners are as follows:

  • Dana Farber (MA) & Penn State Milton Hershey Children’s Hospital (PA) (Co-funded and managed by Solving Kids Cancer) — $145,000. We are partnering with a fantastic childhood cancer organization, Solving Kids Cancer, to fund a Phase I clinical study dealing with Neuroblastoma patients.

  • Clinical Trials at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC), Rush Hospital, and John Stroger Hospital (IL) — $50,000. EVERY child with cancer should be afforded the same chance at life, regardless of their parents’ income. If that sounds idealistic, so be it. Dr. Mary Lou Schmidt is an amazing doctor at UIC and our contributions, funded largely through Al Carter, Hugh Plumb, and the B+ Racing Program, will give literally thousands of children a better chance of survival.

  • Nemours/A.I. duPont Hospital (DE) – Dr. Andy Kolb — $25,000. Dr. Kolb is an outstanding clinician, researcher, and passionate advocate for our kids. Andy is one of the folks that I had the ‘pleasure’ of jumping out of an airplane with at 2 1/2 miles above the ground! Your support will benefit Andy’s research in the Cancer Therapeutics Lab as it relates to his work with Ewing’s Sarcoma patients.

  • Van Andel Research Institute (MI) – Dr. Giselle Sholler — $25,000. Dr. Sholler is a very accomplished researcher who is investigating a novel therapy that deals with a specific protein inhibitor.

  • Nemours/A.I. duPont Hospital (DE) – Dr. Ayyappan Rajasekaran — $25,000. Dr. Raj, the recipient of our $250,000 grant in 2009, is being awarded an additional $25,000 to support his efforts to develop a safer therapeutic approach to alleviate cancer treatment-related side effects in children.

There is an additional proposal that we are considering funding in the first half of 2012 which is extremely exciting as well.  More on that down the road.

I take my responsibility to Andrew, our kids, and you, our supporters, very seriously.  I feel VERY confident that the $270,000 above is being invested in world-class research being conducted by passionate advocates who are world-class people and investigators.  I can’t wait to see what develops.  Might one of these projects help plug the hole in the boat just a bit?

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In closing, please cross your fingers and hope for a VERY, VERY high scoring football game tomorrow between rivals, Salesianum (Andrew’s school) and St. Mark’s.  Foundation 11 (www.Foundation11.org)  is going to give The B+ Foundation $1,111 for EVERY POINT scored by both teams in tomorrow night’s game.  I’ve never been more excited about a high school football game.  I hope it’s a high-scoring shoot-out….maybe 65-60???   🙂    Thank you very much, Foundation 11 – Joan, Doug, and Joanne!!!

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Enjoy 11/11/11

Live Like Andrew

B+

Ali & Andrew’s Dad

www.caringbridge.org/visit/andrewmcdonough

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Tues. Nov. 15th

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Wed. Nov. 2nd — The B+ Foundation Visits the White House