Fox Chase Employees Kick-off Family Campaign to Raise $1 Million

PHILADELPHIA (December 4, 1998) -- Staff and faculty at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia are putting their money where their heart is in a campaign to raise money for the Center's new Research Institute for Cancer Prevention. Their goal: to obtain commitments for $1 million in pledges by September 1999.

Unveiled this fall, the Fox Chase Cancer Center Family Campaign successfully will allow the Center to receive a challenge grant from the Kresge Foundation (Troy, Michigan), worth an additional $1.5 million. The employees are nearly at the halfway point now. As of November 20, faculty and staff have committed $415,126!

"We have no doubt that the staff will achieve their extraordinary one-million-dollar goal," affirmed Robert C. Young, M.D., president of Fox Chase Cancer Center. "In the last staff campaign, they raised $610,000, greatly exceeding their goal of $325,000. Equally impressive is that 94 percent of the faculty and staff participated. The staff committee is committed to setting a new standard of leadership. More importantly, everyone at the Center is excited about the possibilities that can be achieved at the new Institute."

The Research Institute for Cancer Prevention is a $38 million initiative in cancer prevention research. This will be the first research program in the nation to concentrate on a comprehensive approach to cancer prevention. The Institute will enable laboratory scientists to integrate their work with a growing network of prevention-related clinical trials, risk-assessment programs and behavioral research. In terms of clinical care, the Institute will provide a dedicated setting for healthy people who need specialized care to avoid cancer, including risk profiles, genetic testing, access to clinical trials, family counseling and diagnostic screening.

"What could say more about this new effort than the commitment our employees are making," said Sandra W. Weckesser, vice president for institutional advancement at Fox Chase. "The support of our staff to fulfill the Fox Chase mission of exceptional cancer care and treatment has been duplicated through their personal commitment. After all, when your employees back a project with their wallets, you know they strongly believe in the work they are doing."

In addition to their own personal gifts, employees will host a variety of fundraisers at the Center including a scientific/medical spelling bee, a golf tournament, a designer "blue-gene" day, and a scavenger hunt. The Family Campaign ends in September of 1999. The Research Institute for Cancer Prevention will open in January 2000.

Fox Chase Cancer Center is one of 35 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the nation. Fox Chase activities include basic and clinical research; prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer; and community outreach programs.