Just for those wondering...

A little history lesson on the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network ....

"For those who are fairly new to the organization, just to give you some historical perspective, the very first Evening with the Stars in 1998 raised funds that provided the seed money to start the early detection research lab at Johns Hopkins, where important research results continue to flourish. Even with that effort, in 2003 (the year the first leadership conference was held), there were still fewer than TEN full-time pancreatic cancer researchers in the entire country. That was the year during which Pancreatic Cancer Action Network began to fund career development awards. The main focus of these awards was to attract young researchers into the field of pancreatic cancer research. As those young researchers developed promising research, they were more likely to qualify for the larger federal grants or private grants that would enable them to do even more research. Once those people who were early in their careers became successful in the field of pancreatic cancer research, it would improve the chances that they would remain in the field. Indeed, most of the researchers who received those early awards have remained in the field, and many of them have gone on to lead the efforts that have led to new discoveries.

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network has been credited in professional journals and elsewhere as being the leader that helped change the face of research for pancreatic cancer. Because of the efforts of this organization, other organizations that support pancreatic research have said that they are now getting proposals for much better research. In April 2010, Julie Fleshman received the Distinguished Public Service Award from the AACR (the leading cancer research organization in the world) in part because Pancreatic Cancer Action Network almost DOUBLED its commitment to research funding from 2009 to 2010. I was told at that time that the commitment for research funding was increasing about 70% more between 2010 and 2011.

In addition, through its advocacy efforts, the organization has helped federal funding for pancreatic cancer research increase from $17 million per year in 1999, to $96 million in 2010.

So, if anybody ever asks you what this organization has done, those are some pretty impressive facts. Because YOU volunteer, YOU help the organization focus that money on research. And everybody who contributes to the fundraising efforts around the country helps those research dollars continue to grow."

Borrowed from Mary Zapor, one of my buddies in volunteering for this outstanding organization! 

We will change the future - we just need to bring the awareness and ensure that the Government steps up for this cancer....   It's our turn - It's our time!