There are some things I am really terrible at. Asking for help is one of them. I like to think I have gotten better at it in the last year, but I am not sure I am.
Yes, I seem more willing to ask for help–and I am better at accepting it when it is offered. But there is still a real level of discomfort. Jane and I were always so determined to be self-sufficient…
But the projects involved in getting NET moved to the front burner–and in trying to get the funding for research and education–are so far beyond my powers that I have to ask frequently for help.
If you read this column with any frequency you know that I asked people last week to write to the American Cancer Society’s chief medical officer, Dr. Otis Brawley, (otis.brawley@cancer.org) in support of a letter I sent to the ACS last month outlining the reasons they should increase their funding for NET/CS research.
Another way to help is to form a Walking with Jane team for your local Relay for Life. The teams serve two purposes: first, they give us a chance to raise awareness about the disease in communities outside the Greater Fall River area; and second, because the teams have the same name they send a message to the regional and national ACS folks that there are a lot of people interested in what is going on with this disease. While the money raised by these groups will go into cancer research generally, rather than into NET/CS specifically, their existence may serve as a catalyst in getting the ACS leadership more interested in funding more research in the long term.
These Walking with Jane franchises may also become the core of other fundraising efforts in the future that will be entirely directed at NET research. I will write more about that possibility as I begin to sort out the details of what those efforts could be.
Two colleges with Relays in New England are already forming Walking with Jane teams for this year. If you are at Bridgewater State University or the University of Rhode Island, you can join groups that are already starting up.
And we will not leave you out there without whatever help we can provide in getting you going. We already have a button design, a water bottle design, and two t-shirt designs. One group is putting together a ribbon design as one of their fundraisers. And depending on where you are, I can either come visit your group or do a Skype-style appearance at a meeting.
There is much to do. We need all the help we can get.
