Walking with Jane is now officially Walking with Jane, Inc.

I got the call this afternoon from our lawyer who told me that his office received the paperwork from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts department of state approving our by-laws and chartering us as an official (501) (c)(3) charitable non-profit corporation. Over the next few days, we will get a tax ID number from the IRS and set up a bank account specifically for Walking with Jane.

This arrives just as we are setting up the $3 Million March Campaign and as we are trying to put together a series of fundraising events we hope will eventually help us help the NET/CS community raise the kind of money it will take to extend the serious progress made on understanding this disease in the last 18 months into earlier diagnosis and new therapies aimed at curing this nightmare of a cancer.

Getting this organization to this point has been anything but easy–and has been far from a one person effort. While I may be the point person for Walking with Jane, there is a whole host of people working behind the scenes to make all we do possible.

First there is the board of directors: Gail Silvia, Arlyn Bottcher, Morgan Bozarth, and Scott and Wendy Atkinson. When I asked them to help put together our Relay for Life team last year, their only question was “What do you need me to do?”  And they have done it all–right down to propping me up through the long walks in the dark–both figurative and literal. Walking with Jane does not exist without the help they have delivered over the long haul.

Dan Albernaz ran our first successful spin-off team this year at Bridgewater State. He started out as a jack-of-all-trades at last year’s Greater Fall River Relay and challenged himself to create a Walking with Jane team for the college circuit. His experience will help us create more Walking with Jane teams in the future.

Carissa Broadbent and Mike Goeppner designed, built, and maintain this site. Mike also handles the SEO chores that keep us near the top of the list on search engines. Emily Brinkmeyer edits the copy. Todd McAdam and Dominic Gadoury throw their expertise into the mix whenever we ask–and sometimes even when we don’t–which is a good thing since I still don’t quite understand this whole website business.

Phil Devitt is our resident publicity ace. He organized all the stories in the press kit and writes and edits whatever we throw at him. Phil also serves as the publicity chair for the Greater Fall River Relay for Life. He is ably assisted by Becky Martins, Katie Dupere, Meg Flanagan–who is also working on our race teams project–and Emily Brinkmeyer.

Paula Stanton and Jessica Sousa help out with PR and marketing advice.

Brandon Cardoza is our ace carnival barker. The guy could sell ice to Eskimos.

Then there are the people at Dana-Farber: Dr. Jen Chan, Dr. Matt Kulke, Sarah Church, just to name the people I have the most contact with. But there are another dozen people in the development office who have been free with their time and advice over the last year.

Then there is Ellen Eisner, the former CDO at the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation who gave me advice on starting this thing from the day we first met on the phone–and who continues to take my calls and answer the emails I send her.

And there are all of you who pass these notes along, who drop me notes when I am having a bad day–and laugh with me when I need to laugh.

Finally there is my family–and Jane’s–all of whom have been insanely supportive of this effort from the start. But I especially owe thanks to Jane’s sister Gail, my brother David–who came in from Seattle to walk with us last year–and my niece JJ, all of whom have made commitments not only in terms of money but also in time and moral support.

Thanks to you all, we have a corporate reality. Thank you.