Our Spring to GIST Awareness Day Campaign Has Begun!
Thriving Together, our theme for 2023, represents growth, progress, transformation, change, & innovation. We are exploring new ways to reach out and help each other and other rare disease communities to not just survive, but thrive. This includes increasing data collaborations with investigators, enhancing our GIST Patient Registry and Tissue Bank, and developing creative awareness & outreach strategies.
Our spring fundraising campaign is all about Fueling GIST Research and we will be sharing examples of all the ways The Life Raft Group is involved in GIST research and accelerating outcomes that affect patient survival and how our community is helping us move forward & raise funds to do so. We are committed to raising $25K during this campaign.
GIST Advocates are Amazing Fundraisers!
Mid-April we invited three amazing GIST advocates to showcase their successful fundraising events for the LRG during a webinar. Each had a unique idea that channeled their passion for awareness in a fun event for the organizers & the donors. Chelsea Madia, Jason DeLorenzo, and Dave Perry used their talents and energy to bring awareness to GIST and its research. We are so grateful to them for what they were able to accomplish, and so many other GIST advocates who have worked so hard to create fantastic, unique fundraisers.
For example, Chelsea shared about how she ‘came out’ as a cancer patient and appealed to friends & family to donate and join her at the first NJ GIST Do It Walk. Jason and Jill DeLorenzo have hosted a yearly family picnic for years and have incorporated an awareness & fundraising element into that event. Dave Perry & his family dramatically change the face of their record store each year to raise awareness and funds for the LRG in memory of his late daughter-in-law, Lorie. These fundraising dynamos are just a few of the outstanding people who have appealed to their own sphere of influence to help the LRG. Others have held Facebook birthday fundraisers, bake sales, auctions, horse races, ran marathons, held comedy nights, poker events, whiskey tastings, and so much more.
Watch the entire video here:
Two Ways You Can Fuel GIST Research:
Your fundraiser can be a way to honor a loved one who is living with GIST or to celebrate their survivorship. If you’re a patient or caregiver, it can also be a way to rally your community around a cause you believe in and raise awareness about the important work the LRG is doing. The key here is to keep it simple, stay connected to your potential donors, and have a plan – How? You can call on the LRG for help, and you can ask our panel questions too as they’ve volunteered to answer any that you have. Reach out today as we work toward our goal of raising $25K by July 13th – GIST Awareness Day!
