Responding quickly to an astounding new finding in our laboratories or patient care floors is vital if we are to Defy Cancer. We rely on unrestricted donor support to ensure that our momentum is never slowed and accelerates in every way.
The Defy Cancer Fund
We simply cannot rest on prior successes in our laboratories, our clinics—and our fundraising—and hope that progress will continue apace. Unrestricted gifts of all sizes to The Dana-Farber Campaign’s Defy Cancer Fund will accelerate that success by propelling innovative early stage research; speeding new drugs into clinical trials; retaining and attracting the best researchers, clinicians, and staff; meeting unanticipated needs such as those posed by COVID-19; and ensuring that we are fully serving our patients' physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual needs.
For more than 75 years, the generosity of millions has helped the Jimmy Fund save countless lives and reduce the burden of cancer for patients and families worldwide. The story of the Jimmy Fund is one of grassroots support for Dana-Farber: thousands of people, giving generously and organizing or participating in hundreds of events each year, in communities across the country and around the globe, to fuel our cancer research and care. Those continuing efforts will be pivotal to the success of The Dana-Farber Campaign, bringing hope and essential funds to our goal to Defy Cancer in children and adults—not...
For more than 75 years, the generosity of millions has helped the Jimmy Fund save countless lives and reduce the burden of cancer for patients and families worldwide. The story of the Jimmy Fund is one of grassroots support for Dana-Farber: thousands of people, giving generously and organizing or participating in hundreds of events each year, in communities across the country and around the globe, to fuel our cancer research and care. Those continuing efforts will be pivotal to the success of The Dana-Farber Campaign, bringing hope and essential funds to our goal to Defy Cancer in children and adults—not just in Boston, but everywhere.
It is in the spirit of bold experimentation exemplified by Dr. Sidney Farber that The Campaign seeks gifts for the Presidential Initiatives Fund. Our scientists need flexible funding to pursue novel ideas and discoveries when inspiration strikes. Our clinicians need flexible funds to quickly bring new clinical trials, technologies, and programs to our clinics. Overseen by Dana-Farber's President and CEO, the Presidential Initiatives Fund will finance breakthroughs. It will provide timely support for promising, high-risk, high-reward research. It will enable Dana-Farber to attract and retain brilliant scientists and clinicians, and ensure that we can encourage innovative, compassion-filled people who dare to dream boldly.
Pan-Mass Challenge founder Billy Starr’s mother, Betty, died of melanoma shortly after Billy graduated from college. She was 49. Soon after, a 25-year-old Billy set out with three friends to hike the Appalachian Trail. Starr organized all the details, and when nature pelted the young men with freezing rain for the first eight days of their trek, it was Starr who encouraged them on to keep going. In 1980, Billy decided to funnel all that he had learned during that trek about physical and emotional toughness into organizing a two-day bicycle ride to help raise money for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute....
Pan-Mass Challenge founder Billy Starr’s mother, Betty, died of melanoma shortly after Billy graduated from college. She was 49. Soon after, a 25-year-old Billy set out with three friends to hike the Appalachian Trail. Starr organized all the details, and when nature pelted the young men with freezing rain for the first eight days of their trek, it was Starr who encouraged them on to keep going.
In 1980, Billy decided to funnel all that he had learned during that trek about physical and emotional toughness into organizing a two-day bicycle ride to help raise money for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
In its first year, the ride raised $10,200 and had 36 riders who rode from Springfield to Provincetown. From these modest beginnings, the PMC has grown into the largest single athletic fundraiser in the country, drawing 6,700 cyclists from 47 states and 16 countries. Each August, cyclists ride for one or two days on one of 12 routes ranging from 25 to 192 miles. PMC Kids Rides, held throughout New England each spring and fall, and the annual PMC Winter Cycle also contribute to the PMC’s annual goal in support of Dana-Farber.
The PMC has been helping patients, their families, researchers, and clinicians Defy Cancer for more than 40 years. It is Dana-Farber’s largest single contributor, having donated a total of more than $1 billion since 1980. Learn more about how to participate.
Since 1953, one thing has remained constant for the Boston Red Sox baseball team—its role as champion for the Jimmy Fund. The roots of this allegiance extend back to the founding of the Jimmy Fund in 1948, when members of another Boston baseball franchise, the Boston Braves, participated in the national radio broadcast that launched the charity. Braves owner Lou Perini kept the team involved through player appearances and radio appeals during games. The dollars they raised helped pay for the 1952 completion of the state-of-the-art Jimmy Fund Building for research and patient care. When the Braves moved to Milwaukee,...
Since 1953, one thing has remained constant for the Boston Red Sox baseball team—its role as champion for the Jimmy Fund. The roots of this allegiance extend back to the founding of the Jimmy Fund in 1948, when members of another Boston baseball franchise, the Boston Braves, participated in the national radio broadcast that launched the charity.
Braves owner Lou Perini kept the team involved through player appearances and radio appeals during games. The dollars they raised helped pay for the 1952 completion of the state-of-the-art Jimmy Fund Building for research and patient care. When the Braves moved to Milwaukee, Perini left the Jimmy Fund in the capable hands of the Boston Red Sox—a strong relationship that has continued ever since.
Today, the Red Sox Foundation’s focus in the health arena remains the ball club’s long-standing support of the Jimmy Fund. The Red Sox and the Jimmy Fund team up to raise millions for lifesaving research and care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in a wide variety of ways including the WEEI/ NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon, the Red Sox Jimmy Fund specialty license plate, and the Red Sox Foundation’s sponsorship of the Pan-Mass Challenge, which solely supports the Jimmy Fund. Go, Sox!
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Founded in Boston in 1947, Dana-Farber is a principal teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School and a federally designated Comprehensive Cancer Center that develops and disseminates innovative patient therapies and scientific discoveries throughout the world. About Our Patient Stories: Dana-Farber shares patient stories which may include descriptions of actual medical results. Dana-Farber provides personalized care for each patient based on their unique needs; their experiences and results will vary.
At Dana-Farber we are committed to an inclusive community where human differences are valued and celebrated, and where all are welcome. We work every day to create an innovative, caring, and inclusive environment where each patient, family, and staff member feels valued and respected.
