Posts Tagged ‘breast cancer research’

October 6th is 16th Annual Benefit!

Thursday, September 29th, 2011


October 6th is right around the corner and it marks the date of our 16th Annual benefit!

Susan Wornick, WCVB-TV, will once again Emcee our event and help us honor two amazing women, Lorraine Salter and Didi Fisher Weinreb.  Both women have done extraordinary work on behalf of the ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund while undergoing treatment at the MGH. Both will be speaking at the event, which includes a Casino Night of gaming, silent and live auctions and much more.

If you don’t have tickets for this fabulous evening at the Pine Brook Country Club in Weston, MA, email Missy at mcfyffe1@comcast.net to get yours! Tickets are $150 each and 100% of the money goes to breast cancer research.  Seriously! One hundred percent of the money we raise goes directly to research.  We don’t take a penny off the top!

So, grab your tickets, take a roll of the dice and meet some amazing people!  It’s a night you can bet on!

Anna Kournikova agrees IT’S ALL ABOUT THE GIRLS

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Anna Kournikova plays in Save The Girls T.

Anna Kournikova plays in Save The Girls T.

Anna Kournikova sports a limited edition Save The Girls T-shirt as she warms up for her match against the Boston Lobsters at the Ferncroft Country Club  in Danvers, MA.  All proceeds from the sale of the It’s All ABout The Girls T’s and Caps benefit the ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund!

Anna Kournikova in a Save The Girls T.

Anna Kournikova in a Save The Girls T.

Celtics Tickets, Shopping Sprees, Money Trees & More

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Join us Tuesday, October 27th beginning at 6:00 p.m. for the 14th Annual Cards For A Cure benefit!

Cards For A Cure is a fun filled Casino Night complete with gaming tables, delicious food, valuable prizes and a whole lot more.  Visit the silent auction tables where you can scoop up theater tickets, restaurant gift certificates, hotel packages, and bobbles galore.  Or bid on exciting live auction items from Celebrity Auctioneer Susan Wornick of WCVB-TV.  She’ll be auctioning one-of-kind items like a ride in a restored B-17 Bomber, a shoe-shopping spree at Greta Luxe, fabulous Celtics floor seats where you’ll sit with the owners, VIP Patriots tickets and much more.

Tickets are $100 each and 100%  of the money raised goes directly to vital breast cancer research at the Massachusetts General Hospital.  That’s right.  Every penny of your donation goes directly to research!

Call 1-800-635-3899 to get your Cards For A Cure tickets today!

All PSAs courtesy of 92.5 The River!

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Susan Wornick to Emcee 14th Annual Benefit

Friday, June 19th, 2009

We love Susan Wornick!  Every year, without fail, she jumps on the ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund bandwagon and donates her time and undeniable personality to help us raise money for breast cancer research!  This year is no exception.  She’ll be at our Casino Night on Tuesday, October 27th at the Pine Brook Country Club in Weston, MA, rolling dice and raising money!  Stay tuned for more details!  We’re on the prowl for fabulous, fun and fashionable auction items!

The ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund

Tuesday, July 29th, 2008

The ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund was established in 1994 by Albert Cohen shortly after his then-33-year-old daughter, Lynn, was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Cohen, then-CEO of Electronic Space Systems Corporation (ESSCO), met with researchers and physicians at the MGH and learned that promising research is not often funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), because of its risky and unproven nature. However, it is precisely this type of innovation that could eventually lead to a cure. So Cohen established the ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund as an endowment to provide seed money for these types of novel research programs. He then contributed $25,000. His goal: raise $5 million for an endowment that would support this type of breast cancer research at MGH in perpetuity. Cohen then asked his friend, William (Bill) Leisman, to consider making a $25,000 donation to help initialize the fund. Bill jumped on the bandwagon. Next came Joseph (Joe) Bruno. He, too, donated $25,000. With the total at $75,000, the ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund was on its way.

Cohen and his fellow donors had one caveat to their fundraising efforts: every single penny raised on behalf of the fund had to go directly to cancer research at the MGH. No money could be used for administrative or fundraising purposes. To that end, the organization has held an annual benefit in October that, to this day, consistently raises over $200,000. And, true to the founding donors’ pledge, every single penny goes directly to breast cancer research at the MGH.

Today, the Fund has grown to $5 million, and is able to support innovative breast cancer research programs, in perpetuity, under the direction of the talented Dr. Kenneth K. Tanabe at MGH. These include:

The Circulating Tumor Cells (CTC) microchip technology enabling researchers to understand the process by which metastasis occurs.

The Surgical Oncology Breast Fellowship program selecting the best candidates from around the world and providing intensive surgical training in the diagnoses and treatment of patients with breast cancer and benign breast disease.

Developing and refining a new strategy that allows surgeons to determine that they have clean margins during a patient’s first surgery.

The development of web-based tools for accurately predicting the clinical outcome of individual breast cancer patients, as well as for accurately estimating the impact of various treatment choices on that outcome.

In 2008, the ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund was honored as one of the one hundred extraordinary groups who have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to cancer care and research at MGH. Recently, one of the fund’s long-time supporters and active committee members, Ellen Slater, was honored as one of the one hundred for her efforts on behalf of the fund, and in 2014 Susan Wornick was recognized as one of the one hundred for her efforts on behalf of the ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund. In October of 2011, the fund was recognized for its cancer research endeavors at an unveiling of the new Donor Wall at the MGH, and in 2013 members of the ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund were honored at the 4th Annual Community Fundraising Appreciation and Applause Reception at MGH.

The ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund remains committed to growing its endowment through Community Fundraising Events to further fund even more innovative and ground-breaking cancer research. Additionally, the ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund has embarked on a mission to raise $2 million to establish an MGH Endowed Chair in Surgical Oncology at MGH.  Dr. Tanabe, the man who has guided the ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund since 1999, will be the inaugural incumbent of the ESSCO-Slater Family Chair in Surgical Oncology.

Dr. Tanabe has been a true partner with the ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund and his leadership has been instrumental in all of its endeavors, ensuring the hard-raised dollars make the greatest possible impact. In addition to vetting innovative breast cancer research projects, Dr. Tanabe’s own research focuses on the reversal of cirrhosis and prevention of liver cancer, and the development of novel viral gene therapy agents for the treatment of primary liver tumors and liver metastases. Dr. Tanabe’s clinical practice focuses on melanoma and liver surgery. Once established, the ESSCO-Slater Family Chair in Surgical Oncology will support Dr. Tanabe’s research, teaching, and leadership activities.

When you weigh your charitable contribution dollars, please consider funding the ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund and putting your hard-earned dollars to work for cancer research. Members of the ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund are always eager to talk with individuals and organizations interested in working with them to raise funds on behalf of the fund.   All donations to the ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund are tax deductible to the full extent of the law, as the fund falls under MGH’s 501c3 status.

If your organization would like to support the work of the ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund and/or the ESSCO-Slater Family Chair in Surgical Oncology, please contact us at the address/telephone numbers below.  Here are the Community Fundraisers who have supported the ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund to date:

Boston Estate Planning Council & Society of Financial Service Professionals Golf Tourney

Bass River Tennis Ladies’ Night Out Tennis Tourney

Bird Houses for Breast Cancer

Dress Down Day at Ernst & Young

Friends of Reading Tennis Tourney

Holiday Shopping Nights at Lotti Ta-Dah of Hudson, MA

Meadow Brook Women’s Golf Club Golf Tourney

Pingree Boys’ Hockey Team Hockey Tourney

Reading High School Girls Volleyball Tourney

Sharon Country Club Golf TourneyTake the Lake 5K

T-Shirts by Didi Fisher Weinreb

Wine Tastings by Colonial Spirits of Stow, MA

You can host an event on behalf of the ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund  or donate directly by clicking the link above. To arrange a community fundraiser/third-party event or for additional information, please contact Missy Cohen-Fyffe or the MGH Development Office.

Thank you for taking the time to learn about the ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund and the ESSCO-Slater Family Chair in Surgical Oncology, and for helping to cure cancer in your lifetime.
ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund
c/o MGH Development Office
125 Nashua Street, Suite 540
Boston, MA 02114

Tel: 617-724-0170