By Patrick B. Mulvey, vice president, Development
At Thursday's annual meeting of the MD Anderson Cancer Center Board of Visitors, we announced big news: the completion of MD Anderson's largest fundraising campaign ever.
Thanks to the generosity of supporters around the world, Making Cancer History®: The Campaign to Transform Cancer Care has raised $1.215 billion. That's a remarkable
accomplishment
in these challenging economic times, and extremely important during an
era of declining federal and state funding.
Even more remarkable, the
campaign closed ahead of schedule, well exceeding its original goal of
$1 billion.
Every dollar of private philanthropy generates an
invaluable return on investment, and that Return on Investment
translates to hope for a future free of cancer.
The more than 630,000
gifts contributed to this campaign since we began just more than five
years ago add up to enormous benefits for thousands of patients, their
families and friends. Every gift, regardless of size, plays a
significant role, enabling researchers to pursue novel ideas, gather
data and successfully compete for federal funding.
Making a difference
The
Board of Visitors has spearheaded five major campaign initiatives since
1993, and the Making Cancer History® campaign, led by Harry Longwell of
Dallas, was by far the most ambitious.
Along with my colleagues in the
Development Office, I'm grateful for the efforts and expertise of the
19-member campaign executive committee and for the support of each BOV
member whose personal financial commitment was an inspiration others.
- helped launch and drive five institutes focusing on the entire continuum of cancer care, from prevention to survivorship.
- helped establish an endowment to educate and train the next generation of cancer research specialists.
- helped launch a new 600,000-square-foot research facility to support personalized cancer care and accelerate the pace of pancreatic cancer research.
- Provided support for key areas within the institution, such as MD Anderson Children's Cancer Hospital.
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