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'Incredibly satisfying'
Above left, in 1978 Dave McGillvary raised thousands for the Jimmy Fund by running 3,400 miles from California to Boston. At right, Einar "Jimmy" Gustafson posed with young finishers at the 2000 Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk after his public return from anonymity. Long presumed dead, Sidney Farber's former patient was, in fact, a strapping grandfather who selflessly devoted his final years to helping Dana-Farber.
In large part due to their efforts, today about nine in 10 kids survive the most common childhood form of cancer (acute lymphocytic leukemia, or ALL). People of all ages are living with cancer as a chronic but manageable disease, and the Institute has a sprawling campus with several satellite centers and clinical partnerships with Children's and Brigham and Women's hospitals. Dana-Farber's new Yawkey Center for Cancer Care, a state-of-the-art patient clinical facility, is slated to open in 2011.
Jimmy Fund collection canisters have "changed" a lot since this 1950s version, but the cause remains the same.
"It's incredibly satisfying to be part of such tremendous progress in the fight against cancer," says Jimmy Fund Chairman Mike Andrews. A former second baseman for the Boston Red Sox (which has supported the Jimmy Fund as one of its primary causes for more than a half century), he is in his 30th year helping run the charity. "We had about six people on our staff back in 1979 handling everything: Jimmy Fund events, contribution services, marketing, direct mailings, and all the various other Development functions. Now about 30 people are dedicated just to Jimmy Fund event planning as part of Dana-Farber's overall Development team. There are more charities than ever vying for attention, but because almost everybody deals with cancer in some way, folks remain compelled to help."
In many cases, this giving extends across families – as parents, children, and siblings walk, run, or cycle for and with one another. Three generations of moviegoers have deposited change in collection canisters during the summer Jimmy Fund/Variety Children's Charity Theatre Program, and bake sales, car washes, and Little League drives are still fundraising staples. "My kids all did their time selling trees with me, and now the 13 grandchildren, including Dan IV, are getting their turn," says Dan Murphy Jr., whose now-healthy son has also biked in the PMC. "We'll never stop."
Red Sox players like Mo Vaughn (with friend Jason Leader) have always been Jimmy Fund heroes.
Reminders of the Jimmy Fund's origins abound at Dana-Farber. The original Braves jersey given to "Jimmy" sits near Dr. Farber's microscope in a glass-encased timeline in the Charles A. Dana Building. A few stories above is the David B. Perini, Jr. Quality of Life Clinic, named in memory of the grandson of Braves owner Lou Perini, who (like Lou) died of cancer. The Yawkey Center's name reflects the longtime support of Tom and Jean Yawkey, the Red Sox owners who adopted the Jimmy Fund when the Braves left Boston in 1953.
"When small groups come in, I often take them to the PMC Bridge [connecting the Dana building to the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Research Laboratories]," says Andrews. "There they can see the history – the original Jimmy Fund Building, Children's Hospital, Brigham and Women's – with all the bridges connecting them. "Then I point out the new building going up, and I tell them that hopefully it's the last one we're going to have to build."
For more information, visit www.jimmyfund.org
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