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The nearly 10,000 people who gathered on the campus green last September for the 13th annual UMass Medicine Cancer Walk (formerly the Walk to Cure Cancer) raised more than $500,000 to support lifesaving research at the UMass Medicine Cancer Center of Excellence.
While each and every dollar counts, substantial donations of at least $1,000 were essential to reaching this level. On Thursday, Jan. 26,individuals and team leaders who achieved that benchmark for the 2011 UMass Medicine Cancer Walk were thanked for their exceptional efforts at a reception hosted by the Cancer Center and presided over by its director, Michael L. Blute, MD,the Mary C. DeFeudis Chair in Cancer Care and Research and professor of surgery.
At the reception, Dr. Blute thanked guests for their support of the Cancer Center's basic research and clinical trials programs. He also recognized their past contributions, and the impact their sustained involvement continues to make.
Among those in attendance was Don Hodes who, along with his wife Nancy, is a cancer survivor treated at UMass Memorial.” We have every reason to be motivated to do our part to further cancer research and care here at UMass,” said Hodes, who has participated in the walk every year since its inception in 1999. He also talked about why donors support the Cancer Center’s fundraising efforts.”Donors contribute for two reasons: because they have been touched by cancer in some way or because we are asking them to support us on a personal basis”
A tour the Cancer Center of Excellence gave guests a first-hand glimpse of the effects of their fundraising efforts. Upon returning from the tour, one young man said, “Seeing the Cancer Center has given me a renewed energy and increased motivation to raise money again this year.”
Learn more about the UMass Medicine Cancer Walk and the Cancer Center of Excellence by visiting http://www.umassmed.edu/cancerwalk/index.aspx.
Related links on UMassMedNow:
Emotional stories launch UMass Medicine Cancer Walk
Thousands walk to raise money for cancer research
A walk that keeps cancer research going strong
