Seattle Children's Cancer Advocacy Network (C.A.N.)

The Seattle Children's Cancer Advocacy Network (C.A.N.) website is LIVE, and it's awesome! Please follow this link and browse through the site. There are interesting pages on the site that will inform and inspire you. "Our Partners" is a group of businesses that have hosted donation cans to help us raise awareness and funds in our own communities. Look for Poulsbo, Bainbridge Island and Silverdale businesses that you know, and please thank them by doing business with them! Every bit of support for the Seattle Children's Cancer Advocacy Network goes to pediatric cancer research! You will find Katie's Comforters Guild featured in the "About Us" tab.

THANKS and HOPE

Our generous family and friends, we

thank you.

The principal balance of the

Katie Gerstenberger

Endowment for Cancer Research

as of August, 2010 is

$121,209.

We will use the income from this principal to continue to fund solid tumor research, per Katie's wishes. The focus of our funding will now be the work of Dr. Mike Jensen, who recently moved to the Seattle Children's Hospital Center for Childhood Cancer from the City of Hope in L.A.

Dr. Jensen is pioneering the use of the body's own immune system to treat cancer. He has succeeded in "teaching" immune system cells to recognize cancer cells, and to destroy them. You can see and hear Dr. Jensen explaining how it works in

this brief video.

Please take a few moments to watch, and be filled with HOPE.

It is happening - our hopes, our prayers, are on the way to being answered. Thanks be to God!

Something Wonderful: HOPE

There is important (and wonderful) news over at Gberger.

The Seattle Children's Cancer Advocacy Network (CAN)

There is a new blog on the block! The Seattle Children's Cancer Advocacy Network (CAN) is a group that is meeting monthly to prepare for September's Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and it now has a blog: http://www.seattlechildrenscan.blogspot.com/ . Please visit (and follow) to learn what is going on with the guilds that support cancer research. Everyone is welcome!



Katie's Comforters Guild is listed as one of the guilds that supports cancer research. The guild's connection to cancer research is 1) because Katie died of cancer, 2) our family and friends created the Katie Gerstenberger Endowment for Cancer Research in 2007 and 3) we began our work by sewing quilts for children in the cancer ward at Seattle Children's Hospital - and we've now expanded to blanket the entire hospital. As you know, Katie's endowment is for solid tumor research, to help find a cure for the kind of tumor she had (adrenocortical carcinoma). Since adrenocortical carcinoma is very rare, Katie's endowment supports ALL solid tumor research with the income that is generated by the principal in the endowment. At last count, the principal was just over $100,000.

We are thankful for the creation of the Seattle Children's Cancer Advocacy Network (CAN), and excited to see what lies ahead.

More Good News

We recently received an update from the Katie Gerstenberger Endowment for Cancer Research's Legacy Planning Officer, Christina.

"I'm writing to share some good news about Children's Unified Endowment Fund (UEF) and the Katie Gerstenberger Endowment for Cancer Research. Thanks to a disciplined investment strategy overseen by our Investment Advisory Committee and professional investment advisors, Children's endowed funds have benefitted from the recent market rally. The UEF gained 27.5% in calendar year 2009, compared to the S&P 500, which gained 26.5% during the same period.

"As of December 31, 2009, the market value of the UEF has grown to $444 million and the Katie Gerstenberger Endowment for Cancer Research is valued at $100,866. By comparison, Children's UEF was $333 million on March 31, 2009 - the lowest point of the global market collapse - and your endowment was valued at $58,557. Children's financial team continues to carefully monitor the asset allocation and rebalance the portfolio when necessary to support continued recovery and growth."

The balance may actually be higher, thanks to gifts that have been given since the beginning of 2010.

Thank you for supporting the Katie Gerstenberger Endowment for Cancer Research at Seattle Children's Hospital! Remember that the principal amount stays with the endowment fund, and the income is used to fund research.

Katie's Birthday

Today, March 8, is Katie's birthday.

She would have been 15 years old, and in the 9th grade.

I would like to thank those of you who have given to her endowment in honor of her birthday.

If you'd like to read more about Katie and her birthday, visit my blog at www.karengberger.blogspot.com.

Good News: Donations

I just received a note from Christina, who helps us with Katie's endowment at the Seattle Children's Hospital Foundation. Due to the generosity of family and friends, we have a new total in the principal of the Katie Gerstenberger Endowment for Cancer Research.

Christina wrote, "I thought you would like to know that the current fair market value of Katie’s endowment is $98,846, thanks to recent contributions from your family and friends. We are hoping that the stock market will continue to recover and to add value to all endowments at Children’s!"

Thank you for your generosity. Together, we can help to fulfill Katie's wish (and ours) to move cancer research forward (and the hope for better treatments and a cure). God bless you!