BRAINS TOGETHER
Non-Profit Spotlight
Non-Profit Spotlight: Brains Together Taking an in-depth look at a local non-profit, Brains Together and their community impact
Tell us about Brains Together Brains Together is a non-profit run entirely by volunteers who want to help patients & families dealing with the diagnosis of a brain tumor. Our mission is to support & empower those affected by brain tumors through meaningful connections, with a shared commitment toward advancing research. What inspired the founding of Brains Together and how has your organization evolved over the years? This organization started in 2007 when my husband was being treated for a brain tumor. Through his treatment I met some wonderful people at Mayo Clinic and together we set our minds to raising a little money for research. Little did we know how far we would take this, funding nearly $1.5 million in research grants here at Mayo Clinic Rochester. At our first fundraiser in 2007 which was advertised primarily by word of mouth, we expected a little over 100 people. Hoping a lot of our friends and family members would show up! We were shocked when over 500 came! It was clear to us that there was a need in this area to support people going through brain tumor treatment and as well who had lost someone. For the last 17 years we have also run a support group for patients & families. We meet virtually the 3rd Saturday of every month. At these meetings we hope to connect people who are in this similar situation and hopefully help each other through their shared experiences. We are also very fortunate to have a physician at each meeting to help answer questions. Please share a highlight of how your organization has impacted the Rochester region We try every year to engage the community by encouraging attendance at our annual event the first weekend of October. We put on a chip timed 5K run and
2- mile walk (run by the Med City Marathon folks) we have face painting, balloon twisters, a silent auction, other activities along with music and a great program after the run/walk is finished. We often have a keynote speaker who is either an author, patient or a family member to share their experience. It’s a very impactful morning of events. We hope that when we bring people together, our event will become a tradition. There are many families that come each year to honor or remember their loved one with a brain tumor. We always hope that we can make an impact and inspire hope. How can the community become involved in the important work Brains Together does? The community of Rochester can help us in many ways! We need volunteers to help with planning our event, for jobs on day of our event, as well as people to help us look to the future of Brains Together. So, if you are interested, please let us know! What’s an interesting fact about Brains Together that most people don’t know? An interesting fact about us is that at our first event, the keynote speaker was Minnesota native Eleanor Mondale, the daughter of Vice President Walter Mondale. She was being treated here at Mayo for a brain tumor. We were thrilled to have her acknowledge the start of this organization. This year’s event is Saturday October 5th, at RCTC. Visit our website www.brainstogetherforacure.org to get more info and register.
18 | ROCHESTER AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ADVANTAGE MAGAZINE — AUGUST 2024
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online