Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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2010
Inspirations
SUMMER 2010 | VOLUME 17
CO-FOUNDERS
Denise Rich
Philip Aouad
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Deborah Dunsire, M.D.
Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Leonard & Evelyn Lauder, Honoree Thomas C. Quick & Jennifer Hudson, Angel Ball 2009
Star Jones
Television Personality, Author & Attorney
Patricia Quick
Philanthropist
Thomas C. Quick
First Palm Beach Properties, Inc.
Frank Rella
Trine Corporation
Michle Rella
Director
Lorraine E. Schwartz
Lorraine E. Schwartz, Inc.
Donald M. Toresco
Toresco Enterprises, Inc.
James R. Downing, MD
St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital
FOUNDATION STAFF
Jennifer Ranieri
Director
Due to the overwhelming success of the Angel Ball 2009, ten conventional and two integrative
(complementary) medicine grants were selected from the over 80 applicants. The Shulamit
Benjamini Sandberg Research Grant was established in memory of Foundation sponsor Lorraine
Schwartzs mother. Additional monies partially funded another of these projects in memory of
two ardent Foundation supporters, Jeffrey Steiner and Alan Beeber, as raised by their families.
These twelve promising scientists hail from the nations leading research centers including Fox
Chase Cancer Center, St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, Dartmouth Medical School and
the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
Christa Justus
Development
With over $13 million distributed to date through the generous support of Gabrielles Angel
Foundation donors and sponsors, these Medical Research Awards give hope to young scientists
and the cancer patients they seek to cure.
For information on our twelve new grantees, please see page 3.
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A Daughters Wish
by Denise Rich
(reprinted from Tonic.com)
Helen Keller noted, Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of
it. I believe this with all my heart. My life has been an incredible journey from motherhood to a
career in music to my commitment to a cause that means the world to me. In 1996, my daughter,
Gabrielle, a 27-year-old actress and Hodgkins lymphoma survivor, developed acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). In remission for the second time, she needed a bone marrow transplant
and I was the perfect match. AML eventually took my beloved Gabrielles life but not her spirit,
which lives on in the work of the organization her sisters and I created in her memory, Gabrielles
Angel Foundation for Cancer Research. It was Gabrielles last wish to help spare others the
suffering she had endured. We believed the best way to honor her memory was to turn our grief
into a positive force for others.
Gabrielles Angel Foundation funds cutting-edge science in both mainstream research as well as integrative and complementary
medicine which focus on prevention, treatment and quality of life issues of leukemia, lymphoma and related cancers. These are
the countrys most promising young investigators just starting their labs. Our grantees have gone on to obtain federal NIH funding,
published papers, become heads of research institutions, and filed patents on their discoveries. They are Howard Hughes Medical
Institute Early Career Scientists, Leukemia & Lymphoma Special Fellows and on Stand Up 2 Cancers Dream Teamjust a few examples
of the brilliant minds being funded by Gabrielles Angel Foundation! The inspiration is in the numbers and in the many lives this
research touches: over $13 million awarded to 60 of the countrys best and brightest, making Gabrielles Angel Foundation one of the
largest non-governmental sources of grant support to blood cancer researchers in the nation.
Gabrielle believed that life is a quest, something to be lived out loud and celebrated. So, each year we host an incredible party, our
signature gala, The Angel Ball, to celebrate life while raising money for these amazing scientists. I am so thankful to all of my friends
in the entertainment industry who, for one very special autumn night, gather together with a common wishto eradicate cancer in
our lifetime.
I know in my heart Gabrielle would be so proud of all the Foundation has accomplished. We have been approved two years in a row
as one of the Independent Charities of Americas Best in America charities for upholding our commitment to our donors and
sponsors to meet and maintain the highest standards of accountability. 75 cents of every dollar raised by Gabrielles Angel
Foundation directly funds these future leaders of cancer research who continue to push the boundaries of what is possible.
As a songwriter, I understand the healing power of music and its ability to touch the deepest parts of us. I believe that from grief
and tragedy something new can emerge which makes the world a better place and allows us to remember those we have lost. Cancer
has taken my mother, my sister and my daughter from me, but not my resolve to make a difference. As we approach our fifteenth
year, I remain more hopeful than ever for new advancements, a breakthrough, even a cure. I feel strongly that Gabrielles vision and
strength of spirit continue to light the path of Gabrielles Angel Foundation every step of the way. I believe that what we do together
can create miracles.
P U B L I S H E R S N OT E : Gabrielles Angel Foundation President & Co-Founder Denise Rich recently signed on as a Contributing
Columnist at Tonic.com, a digital media company dedicated to promoting the good that happens around the world each day. Tonic.com
shares the stories of people and organizations that are making a difference by inspiring good in themselves and others. Her first article
was published online in March. Visit Tonic.com regularly for future articles.
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Board of Directors
Expands to Include
Prominent Philanthropists
Gabrielles Angel Foundation is thrilled
to announce the expansion of its Board of
Directors to include three individuals
committed to helping further the reach and
the mission of the Foundation. The newest
members of Gabrielles Angel Foundations
Board of Directors include (left to right)
celebrity jeweler and longtime sponsor of
the Angel Ball, Lorraine E. Schwartz; 2009
Angel Ball honoree, Thomas C. Quick of
First Palm Beach Properties, Inc.; and his
sister, also a 2009 honoree, philanthropist
Patricia Quick. All three of these outstanding
humanitarians have demonstrated unwavering
loyalty and generosity to Gabrielles Angel
Foundation, and each of them remains
committed to making a difference in the
lives of others through their considerable
charitable endeavors. In its ongoing quest
to increase the awareness for the need
for cancer research, Gabrielles Angel
Foundation gratefully welcomes Lorraine,
Tom and Tricia to the Board!
If we did
all that we
were truly
capable of,
we would
astound
ourselves.
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Andrews proud parents, longtime Foundation supporters Marcy & Michael, pitched in
with party preparations to help make the event a success. Other parents whose help
was invaluable in the planning and execution were Michael Cohen of the Trump
Organization and Jan Planit who, with student committee member Danielle Brizel, put
on an amazing fashion show. Professional models, including Calvin Klein newbie
Grayson Vaughn, strutted the runway in clothes by Michael Kors, Jill Stuart, Anlo,
Shoshanna, Elizabeth and James, Unk and Will, Calvin Klein, Cynthia Rowley and
more. Foundation Board member, Daniella Rich Kilstock and her husband, Richard
stopped by in support of the event to thank everyone for their efforts. At nights end,
guests went home with gift bags, underwritten by the Shiboleth family, which included
products from KLS Cosmetics, Neutrogena, Tommy Hilfiger, Pop Chips, Rocawear and
more. The teens enthusiasm inspired everyone involved to create another memorable
night for cancer research. Gabrielles Angel Foundation has faith that this next generation
of philanthropists will carry on the tradition of giving back as they truly showed what
it means to make a difference in the lives of others.
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New Addition to
Medical Advisory Board
Gabrielles Angel
Foundation for
Cancer Research
proudly welcomes
Carl H. June, M.D.
to its Medical
Advisory Board.
June, the Director
of Translational
Research at the Abramson Cancer Center
at the University of Pennsylvania and an
investigator with the Abramson Family
Cancer Research Institute, joins the
Foundations team of nine of the nations
top scientific researchers. Dr. June
maintains a research laboratory that studies
various mechanisms of lymphocyte
activation as they relate to immune
tolerance and adoptive immuno-therapy.
He has co-authored more than 250 peerreviewed publications and is the recipient
of numerous awards, including the Frank
Brown Berry Prize in Federal Medicine
(1997), the William Osler Award (2002),
and the Bristol-Myers Squibb Freedom to
Discover Award (20052009). Dr. June
currently serves as President of the Clinical
Immunology Society. After graduating
from the Naval Academy in Annapolis,
Maryland, and Baylor College of Medicine
in Houston, Texas, Dr. June completed his
graduate training in immunology at the
World Health Organization in Geneva,
Switzerland. He then went on to pursue
postdoctoral training in transplantation
biology and medical oncology at the Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in
Seattle, Washington. Gabrielles Angel
Foundation considers Dr. June a valuable
and exceptional addition to its team.
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News in Brief