On Saturday, May 17th in the Caesars Palace poker room in Las Vegas, the Poker For Hope charity tournament took place, benefiting Tia’s Hope, The Life Raft Group, and Phase One Foundation. Poker for Hope was started by these three non-profit cancer support organizations with ONE goal in mind…A CURE!
In December, 2013, the Life Raft Group launched its “We Are the Cure” campaign to fund GIST research in response to the shrinking pool of available funds. As a rare disease, GIST research is impacted more than other more common cancers like breast and colon. Institutions like the National Cancer Institute are funding just four to five percent of all research proposals which means that a rare cancer like GIST is lost amongst the roughly 200 cancers competing for funding.
In December, the Life Raft Group launched its “We Are the Cure” campaign to fund GIST research. I sat down with Norman to find out more about The LRG GIST research team and the campaign’s progress to date.
We had some big shoes to fill this year when we started planning our 10th Annual Night to Fight Cancer.
In early June, Scott Russell, husband of GISTer Carol, participated in the Fourth Annual Allegheny 100 Backpacking Challenge held by the scenic Pennsylvania Allegheny National Forest Chapter of the North Country Trail.
The numbers of marathon walkers, runners and spectators who gathered in support of Dana Pearson’s GIST fundraiser in Virginia was both heartwarming and astonishing.
Breaking Research Barriers! The Life Raft Group Research Team is unique. As we know, the purpose of research is to inform, educate and allow us to live better lives.
If you have been mailed a fundraising packet and still have donor cards to send out, it is not too late. Consider passing one on to a neighbor co-worker, friend or family member.
After two years of planning, toiling, and more planning, the LRG unveiled its redesigned website on January 1 at our same web address: liferaftgroup.org. Finding the balance between providing life-saving information and explaining GIST in a concise, understandable way, has always been a struggle for the Life Raft Group.
As the Life Raft Group celebrates its tenth anniversary and the achievements within the GIST community over the last 10 years, we are busy planning for the future. Our focus remains the same – to cure GIST and support those people affected by this disease until we do. In addition to the services we currently provide, the LRG is working to develop new programs to support our members while also improving our advocacy initiatives to increase GIST awareness and treatment access. The LRG will also continue to fund our research team who recently completed a two year strategic plan to move forward based on its most recent findings.
