An odd Giving Tuesday request
Were we a normal non-profit, today’s post would be about donating to Walking with Jane on this Giving Tuesday so we could continue doing what we are doing in the style you have become accustomed to. But there is very little normal about Walking with Jane. No one gets wages or salary for what we do here. What few expenses we have–hosting for the website, postage for fundraising efforts, stationary, and the odd gathering of volunteers–come out of my pocket. I don’t even take a deduction on my taxes for those things.
…what Walking with Jane aspires to be…
The money we raise goes to largely the Program for Neuroendocrine and Carcinoid Tumors through the Walking with Jane Dybowski Fund at DFCI, with a substantially smaller amount going to the American Cancer Society through the Relay for Life of Greater Fall River.
Giving priorities
I make substantial personal donations to both those groups, as well as to the NET Research Foundation (formerly known as the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation) and the Carcinoid Cancer Foundation. I also personally fund scholarships in Jane’s name for perspective science teachers and people entering the medical field at both Westport High School and Bridgewater State University.
…very little normal about Walking with Jane.
It’s not that I am a wealthy man. I have a roof over my head and a car in the garage–both of which are mine and not in hock to some bank somewhere. And I live frugally: I bake my own bread, cook my own meals, and raise my own vegetables; I mow my own lawn and do as much of my own maintenance as my body and skills will allow. And except for the bread baking, Jane and I always lived that way.
Giving Tuesday investments
But there are things worth investing in–even if I never see a dime of profit from it. It was why Jane and I taught high school students–and why we taught where we did. It is why I make the biggest donations I can in NET cancer research and awareness.
It’s not that I am a wealthy man.
And it is why I am asking you to do likewise today. The fact is we spend far too little on NET cancer research–spend far too little on raising awareness of the disease among doctors and the general public. The fact is that while we are spending significantly more than we were five years ago, we still do not spend what amounts to a rounding error in what we spend on lung cancer or breast cancer–or any other cancer with more name recognition.
Research giving
The Program for Neuroendocrine and Carcinoid Tumors at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has been at the cutting edge of NETs research for the last several years. I’ve worked with them extensively and I know the quality of their program and their people. I haven’t worked enough with other NCI cancer centers with similar programs to have an opinion about them, but if you have, giving some money to them today would also be a good thing.
…there are things worth investing in…
Outside of Dana-Farber, I rely on the NET Research Foundation to find NET research projects worthy of support. They have the science advisory board I wish Walking with Jane could put together. And every dollar donated goes to support real NET cancer research. The salaries of their full-time staff and other expenses are funded by other sources–not your donations. They are what Walking with Jane aspires to be on the research support side.
Awareness giving
Finally, the Carcinoid Cancer Foundation does more to raise awareness and provide patient and medical resources in a month than Walking with Jane has done in the last two years total. Need a doctor? They are the ones to ask. Need a support group? They are the ones to ask. Need someone to talk to? They cover that as well. They are what Walking with Jane aspires to be on the patient support and awareness side.
…what Walking with Jane aspires to be…
NET cancer research and awareness need your financial support–and these three groups deliver. Please, join me in supporting one or more of them today.
