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Greetings to the LRG Community!

The Life Raft Group experienced many challenges and transitions as we celebrated our 20th anniversary in 2022. Despite these changes, we continued to deliver on our promises to drive innovation and collaboration to benefit our patients. We have taken a deep look at our priorities for the coming year, and as a result we have downsized our physical offices, added to our Medical Advisory Board, our Board of Directors, our Science Team, our GIST Mentors, as well as our volunteer base to create a stronger scientific/research direction.

For the past two decades, the LRG has been a prominent voice in GIST research, support & education, and advocacy. We have helped drive millions towards research, initiated a clinic at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for rare subtypes of GIST, built consortiums and facilitated tumor boards across multiple institutions and countries, and so much more to empower and benefit the GIST community. We have made a made a tremendous impact on patient survival.

I believe that surviving paired with thriving is vital. 

In 2023, we will focus on the theme of “Thriving Together”. Thriving Together represents growth, progress, transformation, change, and innovation. We will explore new ways in which we can reach out and help each other and other rare disease communities to not just survive, but thrive. This will include increasing data collaborations with investigators, enhancing our GIST patient registry and tissue bank, and creative awareness & outreach strategies. We are committed to focusing on personalized contact with our patients through support groups, mentorship, and education. We also plan to publish and share our knowledge as much as possible, creating a culture of transparency and a standard of excellence to transform the lives of our community.

The Life Raft Group is thankful to those who so generously supported us in 2022 and we hope you continue to support our new initiatives in 2023. We love engaging with our community and if you would like to become more actively involved in our mission, please reach out at your convenience. We are happy to involve all those with an interest in empowering patients and moving GIST research forward!

Gratefully yours,

Sara Rothschild profile picture & signature

If you are interested in sharing your time, talents & skills to benefit the LRG community, please click the link below to indicate your area of interest. We love to involve volunteers in all facets of our work for GIST patients & caregivers.

Your generous donations make our programming possible and ensure that we meet the needs of our GIST community through science, education, advocacy and support. Please consider donating so that our programs can continue throughout 2023 and beyond. #thrivingtogether