From: Mark Roberts
Work continues apace on the 2011 book (and I'm bracing myself for the
inevitable last-week rush of submissions soon to come). What I'd like
to get input on at the moment is the notion of changing the charity
the book supports. We've had many problems with CureSearch in the past
two years but the straw that broke the camel's back as far as I'm
concerned is the way they totally dropped the ball regarding the
exhibit in Chicago. They'd said they would do a mailing to their major
donors in Chicage and alert them to the opening, etc. And they
completely failed to follow through on any of it. I know a lot of
oncologists and pathologists who are familiar with NCCF/CureSearch and
whenever I mention the organization I get the same reaction: a sigh
and a rubbing of the temples as if an old, familiar headache is coming
back. CureSearch's is widely regarded as well-intentioned but more
than a little feckless.
In the past we've floated the idea of supporting a different cause
every year, but I feel strongly that it's much more advantageous to
try to build a working relationship that (one would hope) gets better
and stronger every year. I've been looking for an effort similar to
CureSearch to support but it's been difficult because I really wanted
to find something with international scope, given the international
nature of the PDML. About two weeks ago I found what I think is a good
candidate. The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute here in Boston
(http://www.dana-farber.org/) is highly respected in the field and
their "Jimmy Fund" pediatric cancer clinic is one of the best around.
They are starting a new program to be called "Pediatric Oncology
Global Outreach" intended to expand and improve pediatric cancer
treatment worldwide, particularly in developing nations.
This Monday past I had a meeting at Dana-Farber with Dr. Carlos
Rodriguez-Galindo, the oncologist who's heading this program. He
described their plans and where they stand now. He's very interested
in getting our support because they're really just getting started -
we'd be getting in on the ground floor with this effort. That has some
disadvantages as far as name recognition, but I think that being under
the Dana-Farber umbrella will make up for that to a significant
degree.
Another advantage is that this organization is headquartered here in
Boston, about two miles from my house. They won't be able to ignore
emails from me like CureSearch because they know I can be right there
in their faces at a moment's notice. The link with Dana-Farber also
gets instant cred around these parts, which I hope will be beneficial
when I start hitting the local media about the 2011 book in a few
weeks.
Any thoughts?
Dana-Farber seems to be a somewhat regional effort. I wonder if there's
any worthy organization whose scope reaches beyond the Boston local area?
But, I don't have an alternative to suggest.
Do what you gotta' do, and I'll support it.
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