Good morning! I apologize for not writing yesterday but I was hard at work and the time simply slipped by. You see, between you and I, I am working on my absolute favorite project. It is the one that I love to do - not the one that pays me to live. Regardless, don't tell anyone, but I am working on the updated Lunch for a Cure website and getting ready for this year's launch.
Again, don't tell anyone yet. But, what you can start doing is collecting your recipes. Yep, we brought back the cookbook and this year it is going to be better than ever. Now, everyone can submit their recipes online and, if you do so in the name of a child with neuroblastoma, your recipe may even win that child (or their family) a brand new iPad.
If all of that is not good enough, I even found a sponsor for the dream vacation to Walt Disney World. That means every $5 donation made to Lunch for a Cure in the name of a child with neuroblastoma will enter that child in a drawing to win the Walt Disney World Dream Vacation.
Hold on, it gets better. The Giving Trees are back. Each $5 donation in a child's name also earns that child an ornament on their very own Giving Tree. Once the the Giving Tree fills up, gifts start appearing under the tree, and, best yet, real gifts are sent to them in the mail.
Now, all of that is fine and dandy and I am sure enough motivation to get people to start giving up their lunches and donating their recipes but the thing that is most important to me is what the donations will be funding this year. We will be funding a trial which does two extremely important things. First, it will provide ch14.18 (yes, the same antibody that increased survival by 20%) to children with refractory and relapsed neuroblastoma. This is incredibly important because, right now, those kiddos have no way of getting this life-saving and cure-cementing drug. This alone, providing access to ch14,18, will save real lives right now. There is no greater impact than that. Secondly, the trial offers a new drug to be combined with the ch14.18 which is expected to make it work even better than ever. Best yet, it does not have the toxicities and issues seen with IL-2 or GM-CSF (other drugs given with ch14.18) and it appears to work even better. Best yet, it is already an FDA approved drug - meaning it is available to our kids and has little threat of disappearing like so many others have in the last few years. It will be this research though, that shows whether this drug is better and safer than what we have today.
Bottom line, this is the most important research project I have ever had the opportunity to help fund. It is huge. It is life saving and ,from a research standpoint, it will likely be one of the most important things that we are ever a part of. It is that meaningful.
There will be more to come.
In the meantime, get ready. In a day or so, we will be racing to collect recipes for the new cookbook. I am hoping that you will help me get the word out.
This is purpose like we have never seen before.
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