For decades, the Blum Family has been an integral part of Dana-Farber’s success. Through service on the Board of Trustees and various committees, as well as strategic philanthropic support for key Institute initiatives and programs named in their honor, Maxwell Blum and his wife, Eleanor, truly left their mark on Dana-Farber.
For the past few decades, their daughters, Betty Ann and Marjorie, have honored the memory and legacy of their parents through continued involvement and generous giving. The sisters recently pledged $1 million in support of capital projects and strategic initiatives at Dana-Farber—a gift which provides powerful, early momentum to the Institute’s comprehensive campaign, currently in the quiet phase.
“My family has built a legacy of continuous support—we step up and do what we can, when we can,” said Betty Ann, a Dana-Farber Trustee since 1999, and member of the Trustee Campaign Planning Committee and the Joint Committee on Quality Improvement and Risk Management. “Whenever I hear of a need at the Institute, it’s my instinct to give right away at the level I can afford to give. That’s the Blum Family legacy.”
This most recent gift will provide funding for the new outpatient facility in Chestnut Hill, Mass., the opening of which was pushed to January 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dana-Farber – Chestnut Hill will provide much-needed space to accommodate our growing patient population, expand access to Dana-Farber’s cutting-edge patient care, and ensure that the Institute has additional clinical space for social distancing measures that protect the health and safety of our patients and staff. Betty Ann also contributed to Dana-Farber’s Emergency Response Fund and the Feed the Frontline initiative in 2020.
Funding patient-centric programs like the COVID-19 response efforts is emblematic of the Blum Family’s involvement over the years. Through the Eleanor and Maxwell Blum Patient and Family Resource Center, established in 1998, and the Betty Ann and Marjorie Blum Pediatric Resource Center, created in 1999, the Blums have fostered programs that help patients and their families understand more about the disease they are facing and provide resources that can help them cope. The Blum Family Resource Center Van has been providing cancer education and cancer screenings to underserved neighborhoods in Boston since 2004.
“The Blums have been valued friends to the Institute for many years,” said Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, president and CEO of Dana-Farber and the Richard and Susan Smith Professor of Medicine. “Betty Ann and Marjorie’s thoughtful, strategic support for the comprehensive campaign enables us to continue providing the best care possible for our patients.”
“Support for the comprehensive campaign at this early stage is invaluable to ensuring we reach our goal,” said Trustee Monica Chandra, who serves as co-chair of the Trustee Campaign Planning Committee with Trustee Bob Stansky. “We are very appreciative to the Blum Family for recognizing a need, and coming forward immediately to fill it.”