March 30, 2008

SPRIGTIME GREETINGS FROM DANI'S FOUNDATION!  

I think that no matter how old or infirm I may become, I will always plant a large garden in the spring.  Who can resist the feelings of hope and joy that one gets from participating in nature's rebirth? 

~Edward Giobbi

I am writing today to ask for your active participation within Dani's Foundation and our campaign to grow and prosper in the days and months ahead. At this time we are in need of active volunteer participation within our Foundation.  Any and all support that you can lend to our campaigns to assist patients with resources and information, develop education that will lead to earlier detection, assist with our fundraising effort to endow greater pediatric sarcoma research and help us to develop a united advocacy effort that will bring pediatric sarcomas to the forefront of federal funding opportunities, we will gladly welcome your involvement! At the present time we are seeking volunteer support in the following areas of our organization:  

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors of Dani's Foundation meets four times per year and determines the program of work for the Foundation. 

• Legal Assistance
• Financial Assistance
• Members At Large

• Working on developing resource information for our patient population

• Working to institute our campaign to distribute symptom information to the masses with the goal of seeking earlier detection of pediatric sarcomas.  

• Medical and Scientific professionals are needed to serve on the Foundation's research grant development and review committees.

• Individuals who are interested in working with us on the development of a One Voice campaign that will work to organize all pediatric sarcoma foundations into a united advocacy effort that will take our overall message to our elected representatives.

• Anyone wishing to assist with the staging of our many coming events.
• We have great plans for a variety of special events and need bodies to help plan and implement these very special activities.

If you would like to volunteer your time and your talents to become actively involved in Dani's Foundation, we will gladly welcome your participation with us! To confirm your volunteer participation within Dani's Foundation, simply send an email directly to me at martha@danisfoundation.org and I will get information to you on the program of your choice and information on coming meetings. 

(For those out of the Colorado area, we will be conducting telephonic meetings to actively involve everyone within our process of development.) 

Any and all support that you can lend NOW to Dani's Foundation will be greatly appreciated by each of us who are working to eradicate these horrific diseases in the days ahead. 

As always, our thanks for your continued support of Dani's Foundation and our best wishes to each of you for a glorious spring, wherever you may be! 

Martha Simmons

Executive Director

DID YOU KNOW?       

• In the United States, cancer is the number 1 killer of children by disease.
• Each year, about 3,000 children die from Cancer - more than from Asthma, Diabetes, Cystic Fibrosis, Congenital Anomalies, and Pediatric AIDS combined.
• Currently, one in every 330 Americans develops cancer during childhood or adolescence, before the age of 20.
• On the average, 46 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer every weekday in the United States.
• Nationally, the incidence of cancer in children is more than 20 times greater than the incidence of AIDS in children.
• Pediatric cancer funding is nominal in comparison to other more publicized diseases, such as pediatric AIDS or juvenile diabetes, which increase in awareness each year.
• Awareness of much needed funding for Pediatric Cancer is virtually absent from the public eye due to lack of media attention.
• For example, the funding for pediatric AIDS is four times greater than the funding for pediatric cancer, yet in comparison, twice as many children die of cancer in one month as do die of AIDS in one year.
• The cases of pediatric cancer are increasing at a rate of 1% every year, while funding for research continues to be minimal.
• Cancer during adolescence and young adulthood is increasing and unexplained; progress in treating cancer in these age groups is lagging.
• Sadly, more than 60% of the American public knows little, if any, about pediatric cancer.
• Cancer in childhood occurs regularly, randomly and spares no ethnic group, socioeconomic class, or geographic region.
• A number of the advances in adult cancer treatment are due to breakthroughs in childhood cancer research.
• "The payback for the investment (in childhood cancer) is immense," according to Doctor G. Denman Hammond, Founder of the National Childhood Cancer Foundation.
• "More value-added can be achieved for every dollar invested in pediatric cancer research than in most if not virtually all other cancer research endeavors".
• These facts demonstrate the dire need for increased awareness and funding toward childhood cancer research now.
  
  The goals of Dani's Foundation are to fund:
• the on-going development of patient resources and information with the goal of assisting those patients who are affected by pediatric cancers;
• work on the development of a comprehensive education program that will be distributed to those who are on the front-line in dealing with children (school nurses, athletic directors, coaches and pediatricians and their staffs) with the goal of educating each on the symptoms of pediatric sarcomas and working toward earlier detection thereof;
• cutting-edge research for Ewing's Sarcoma and the other forms of pediatric sarcomas, with the goal of finding the cause and the cure for these horrific diseases that are affecting and taking the lives of our children and young adults. 
• development an aggressive advocacy effort that will unite all pediatric sarcoma organizations within a "One Voice" campaign that will send our message - loud and clear - to our elected officials with the goal of encouraging increased federal funding for pediatric sarcomas and all childhood sarcomas.Osteosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma are the most common malignancies of bone tissues in children.