Fall/Winter 2023 | Issue 1
CLC Connection
100% VOLUNTEER | 100% COLORADO | 100% OF MONEY RAISED GOES TO CLC’S MISSION
Look Inside
100% OF MONEY RAISED GOES TO CLC’S MISSION
President’s Message — pg. 2
Cancer League of Colorado’s mission is to secure the cure or control of cancer by raising funds to support innovative cancer research and cancer-related services in the state of Colorado.
War On Cancer — pg. 3
CLC Under The Microscope — pg. 4
Service Grant Spotlights — pg. 5
100% COLORADO Every dollar donated to Cancer League is used for cancer research or service grants, and it all stays in Colorado.
CLC Fundraising Events — pg. 6
CU Cancer Center Message — pg. 7
Cancer League of Colorado has NO offices or paid staff. All operating expenses are covered by annual dues paid by our more than 400 volunteer members. 100% VOLUNTEER
Cancer League of Colorado’s donors have impacted the fight against cancer in the state of Colorado by more than $400 million since its inception in 1969.
Cover Art by Colorado Cancer Survivor/Artist: Sara L. Broers Brown For more information please visit: www.slbroersbrown.com
President’s Message
Over $24 million in grants funded in our 54 year history.
Cancer League of Colorado has just completed an amazing year in pursuit of our mission to secure the cure or control of cancer. We have raised nearly $1.2 million to fund grants of $910,000 for cancer research and $216,000 for cancer-related services, all in the state of Colorado. GRANT PROCESS MAXIMIZES POSITIVE IMPACT FOR DONORS Cancer League receives donations from thousands of individuals and organizations each year, and we take tremendous care to assure that every dollar is put to work in a way that maximizes its effectiveness. This is why we believe that a donation to Cancer League of Colorado is the single best way for any donor to impact the battle against cancer in Colorado.
Who we are : Cancer League of Colorado is a 501(c)(3) non- profit organization composed entirely of volunteers. Unique to non-profits, we have no paid staff and no offices. All operating expenses are covered by membership dues. Approximately 400 volunteer members share our commitment to fight cancer and support cancer research here in Colorado!
Thank you for an amazing year. What many don’t realize is that Cancer League’s research grants carry an incredible multiplier effect in their overall impact. The research projects funded with Cancer League’s grants generally are early stage testing that enable researchers to qualify for major grants from the National Cancer Institute and other large grantors. Over the years, these major grants have averaged more than 20 times the amount of the original Cancer League grant. As a result, virtually every dollar donated to Cancer League has resulted in an additional $20 of cancer research in Colorado. With a highly successful 2022-2023 fiscal year now closed, I would like to thank our members, our Board of Directors, our Corporate Advisory, Foundation, and Scientific Advisory Boards, and our generous sponsors and donors for their passionate commitment to our mission. It is through the combined efforts of these groups that Cancer League achieved so much this year. We invite each one of you who currently is not part of these groups to join us in the pursuit of Cancer League’s mission of finding a cure for cancer. with gratitude and dedication,
Cancer is the leading cause of death in Colorado!
To learn more about Cancer League of Colorado or Cancer League of Colorado Foundation, please visit our website at: www.cancerleague.org
President, Cancer League of Colorado
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EARLIER DIAGNOSES & TREATMENTS ARE SAVING LIVES TURNS 50 * • Before President Nixon signed the National Cancer Act of 1971, a visionary group of women founded “Cancer League of Colorado” in 1969 to help raise money and awareness to fight cancer and honor those they had lost to the disease. • Cancer remains the leading cause of death in Colorado (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, 2023). • The five-year survival rate in Colorado after a cancer diagnosis in 1970 was at best 50%. According to the Colorado Cancer Registry statistics the five-year survival rate for all cancers and all genders in Colorado is now 70%. • “When the war on cancer started, somehow people thought we could do it in 10 years. But going to the moon was easier. It takes a long time to understand complicated diseases* .” • More than $100 billion in national expenditures, and 5 decades later, we are much closer to winning the war on cancer. Cancer League of Colorado supports research and service grants impacting all cancer types.
TOP
Advances
Among the most notable wins from the early days of the war is the establishment of NCI-designated cancer centers across the country that, for the first time, tied scientific discoveries more closely to bedside cancer care. Today, there are 71 centers in 36 states and the District of Columbia. Studies show they often deliver better cancer survival and recovery rates than other hospitals. The war also cracked open the hidden universe of cancer genetics. In 1979, the most commonly mutated gene in human cancer was discovered. By 2018, the Cancer Genome Atlas had enough DNA data to fill 530,000 DVDs. “It took billions (of dollars) to sequence the first cancer genome.”
The pace of discovery for treatments has accelerated as well. Between 1941 and 1970, the FDA approved 16 cancer drugs. Between 1971 and 2020, it OK’d more than 160. Many are brand-new types that cancer specialists call the “fourth and fifth dimensions” of cancer treatment. (Chemotherapy, surgery and radiation are the original three). It’s a powerful advance.” The most important thing that has impacted the ‘War on Cancer” nationally is increased funding for research. This research has led to major breakthroughs that have led to much higher survivability rates among many top forms of cancer. Cancer is not one disease, but many hundreds of diseases that will require years of ongoing research in order to find eventual treatments.
*Cited Source Credit: Excerpts from “As the War on Cancer Turns 50, Earlier Diagnoses and Treatments are saving Lives” by Sara Harrar, Published November 4th, 2021 by AARP magazine
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CLC Under the Microscope
Cancer League of Colorado is an all-volunteer nonprofit in Colorado
where 100% of the money we raise goes to help finding a cure through research or through service grants that help people already afflicted with cancer in Colorado.
OUR DONATION MAKES A DIFFERENCE!
Cancer League of Colorado’s early stage research grants carry an incredible multiplier effect in their overall impact. Historically, a dollar raised for Research has turned into twenty dollars in additional national funding!
HOW DONATIONS ARE USED IN COLORADO
Cancer League’s Scientific Advisory Board, a group of volunteer Colorado medical specialists, ensures grants are awarded that support the best science.
80%
SEED RESEARCH AND CLINICAL TRIAL GRANTS
20%
SERVICE GRANTS TO NON PROFITS HELPING PEOPLE WITH CANCER
Please consider helping us however you can today. Your Donation Makes A Difference!
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SERVICE GRANT Spotlights
Approximately 20% of the money raised from our donors each year is used to help fund service organizations that provide support directly to cancer patients and/or their families.
A summer camp for children facing pediatric cancer and their siblings. Offered at no cost to their families. The inspiration for Wapiyapi came from University of Colorado medical students in the early 1990s who believed every child deserves an unforgettable camp experience. Seeing how childhood cancer steals a child’s sense of normalcy, they created a free summer camp that provides respite and an additional circle from which families may draw the strength for continued healing. Kids can let go of cancer and ‘just be kids’ – laughing and playing with others who cherish them just as they are.
NUTRITIOUS FOOD IS MEDICINE FOR PEOPLE FACING ILLNESS
Project Angel Heart was founded in 1991 to address major challenges for Coloradans who are ill: getting the nutrition they need to get stronger, heal, and remain at home. Many are too sick to get to the grocery store or unable to cook for themselves. Others find they have to choose whether to buy food or medication to make ends meet. That’s why Project Angel Heart prepares and delivers medically tailored meals to people living with severe illnesses. Each week, their professional chefs and registered
dietitians prepare thousands of delicious meals, from scratch, and tailor them to meet the medical and dietary needs of those who are ill. In 2022, they prepared and delivered over 550,000 meals to Coloradans in need. For more information please visit: www.projectangelheart.org
For more information visit: www.campwapiyapi.org
Cancer League of Colorado supports over 40 “Cancer-Focused” organizations statewide .
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CLC Fundraising Events 2023
Over The Edge
From the top of the “Sky Bridge” at 1620 20th Street in McGregor Square. 140 brave souls rappelled down over 200 feet to raise money for the cause! September More Info: denverovertheedge.com
Hope Ball
Our largest event held each spring! Live and Silent Auctions, Paddle Raise along with a Car Raffle and Live Entertainment! May
Race 4 Research
CLC Golf Tournament
This 5K run/walk is held each year in Wash Park. Hundreds of runners/walkers help us “Race 4 Research” August
Our annual tournament was held at “The Ridge at Castle Pines North” and fielded 110 players June Courtney Mizel Mountain View Pella PBJ Reece Family Jill and John Peterson Kori and Randy White Glory Weisberg Family Dependable Cleaners Atlas Metal
Anna and John J. Sie Foundation The Anshutz Foundation The Digby Family Doug Moreland’s Family and Dealerships Drink for Pink Gateway Services Group Hackstaff, Snow, Atkinson & Griess, LLC JoAnn B. Ficke Cancer Foundation Arlene Mohler Johnson Family
Univ. of Colorado Cancer Center and UC Health Spencer Fane and Ellen Stewart & Donald Vancil MDC/Richmond American Homes Foundation Cancer League of Colorado Foundation Morgan Family Legacy Foundation Madison Commercial Properties Merrill, A Bank of America Co., The JB Group Whitcomb Charitable Foundation Chris and Pete Thompson Pegi and Michael Touff Wheel Pros / 4 Wheel Parts
A big “THANK YOU”
to all of our ‘Hope Level’ Sponsors
B’Cuz We Can Janice Sinden FINRA Thank you to EVERYONE who donated to us, at any level, this past year.
The Lanoha Family Amy and Bob Martin
A complete list of our 2022/23 sponsors is available at www.cancerleague.org For more information about becoming an individual, Corporate or Hope Sponsor, for one or more, of our 2024 events, please email our VP of Fundraising, Barbara Reece, at barbarasreece@aol.com .
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Richard Schulick, MD, MBA, FACS Director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center
We cannot thank the Cancer League of Colorado community enough for its compassion, generosity, and partnership over the past few decades.
GRATITUDE FOR CANCER LEAGUE OF COLORADO’S IMPACT ON CU CANCER CENTER RESEARCH: A DECADES-LONG PARTNERSHIP
The partnership between the University of Colorado Cancer Center and Cancer League of Colorado began in the late 1990s, and since then it has flourished and allowed Colorado to become a hub for cancer research, treatment, screening, and prevention. The support from Cancer League of Colorado creates possibilities that would not have been imaginable before this partnership. Over the past four years alone, Cancer League of Colorado has given more than $3.2 million to fuel the work of 83 projects led by CU Cancer Center researchers. Each day our researchers are hard at work making discoveries thanks to this partnership. Some projects include using CAR T cells for a range of new treatment options, improving immunotherapy treatments, creating natural killer cells that can protect someone from developing leukemia, reducing fatigue in rural cancer patients, and many others. The commitment from Cancer League of Colorado makes these cancer advancements possible. “I can’t articulate how much it means in words, just seeing the impact it has on our patients. With someone who believes in you and keeps supporting you to be able to change the way we treat our patients… It’s a gift,” says CU Cancer Center member Sana Karam, MD, PhD, about her Cancer League of Colorado grants.
We cannot thank the Cancer League of Colorado community enough for its compassion, generosity, and partnership over the past few decades . Their continued donations make us hopeful that diagnoses of cancers decrease, and that when someone hears the words, “You have cancer,” it is not as scary because of the treatments available.
There is no other organization that I will rappel 44 stories with to raise money and increase awareness of cancer.
Warmly ,
Richard Schulick, MD, MBA, FACS Director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center Professor and Chair of the University of Colorado Department of Surgery The Aragón/ Gonzalez-Gíustí Chair
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U.S. POSTAGE PAID DENVER, CO PERMIT NO. 2393 NONPROFIT ORG.
When I was 5 years old, I was told that I had widespread blood cancer and needed immediate treatment or I would die. I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Today, I am a confident, compassionate, capable, CANCER-FREE young man, with a healthy body, strong heart and powerful voice. I have been given a second chance, which would not have been possible without Cancer League of Colorado. ONE IN FIVE children diagnosed with cancer will not survive. Because I am one of the 4 out of 5 who survived, it’s up to me to do what I can to help other children and families suffering from the effects of cancer and also to help support the organizations bringing smiles to a hurting child, like BraveHoods, Bags of Fun, Camp Wapiyapi, Shining Stars and Nighthawk Ranch… all beneficiaries of Cancer League of Colorado service grants.
Dedicated To One's You Love More than $24 Million Raised in Colorado since our inception to help fight cancer!
Make A Difference! Donate, Participate or Join Today!
Thank you, Cancer League of Colorado!
www.cancerleague.org
Preston Kilzer, now age 21 Junior at Purdue University Cancer Survivor
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