HUGE, Wonderful News

Thank You to our donors for your generosity to the Katie Gerstenberger Endowment for Solid Tumor Research.  update on the endowment’s growth:   Due to your generosity and market growth,   as of March 31, 2012, the market value of the endowment is $167,373. This is a great increase over March 2011, when the total was $140,554. Thank you!  what we are doing with the endowment’s income:  last summer, Seattle Children’s Hospital’s Research Institute opened the Center for Childhood Cancer Research (recently re-named the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research in memory of the son of our friends, Carin and Jeff Towne. You can learn more about the Townes’ work at www.bentownefoundation.org.) Dr. Michael Jensen, the director of the new center, is a man of vision, passion and compassion, who is pioneering the use of T-cells to kill cancer, rather than toxic chemotherapy and radiation. His work is a promising new kind of treatment, which has just (last week) received approval from the FDA to commence clinical trials!  No chemotherapy, no radiation, no harmful side effects nor long-term disability, no secondary cancers - this is a treatment protocol of which we have dreamed for many years, and it is about to begin. The income from the Katie Gerstenberger Endowment for Cancer Research is funding this work. Your contributions are supporting research to change the way cancer is treated – for the better. an invitation to see what your donations are accomplishing:  Dr. Jensen has kindly offered to conduct a private tour of the research center (in downtown Seattle at 1100 Olive Way) for our endowment's friends and donors on Thursday, October 11, 2012 at 1:00 P.M.  If you would like to tour the center, meet Dr. Jensen and learn more about the research our endowment is supporting, please let me know by emailing me at karenlboren@yahoo.com. We would love to share this experience with you, and we need to know how many are planning to join us. We are profoundly grateful to be participating in this research, and grateful to you for your donations, which are making this possible.

Gratitude

We want to share with you our gratitude to the Merritt family.

Because of Charlotte's thoughtfulness in naming the Katie Gerstenberger Endowment for Cancer Research at Seattle Children's Hospital in Fred's obituary, 22 new donations have been received thus far.

Along with our sadness over Fred's passing, we feel enormous gratitude for his and Charlotte's kindness and generosity.

Our Dear Friend, Fred Merritt

Our family received hard news this week. Our dear friend, Fred Merritt, passed away. Fred was a wonderful friend and a dear man, and we will miss him terribly. You can learn more about his many accomplishments HERE.

Fred and my father met in elementary school. Fred and his beautiful wife, Charlotte, fell in love at the University of Washington, and are two of my parents' dearest friends. We came to know them when our children were in elementary school, and I will give you a few examples of why I love them both so much.

When David had to write a report in the 4th grade, he chose the Ford Motor Company as his topic. Fred was retired from Ford, so David asked if he could interview Fred about it. Fred not only generously took time to answer David's questions, he gave him photographs and interesting historical information. In addition to that, when the day arrived for David's presentation of the report, Fred & Charlotte took the ferry over from Seattle and sat in the audience in David's elementary school classroom to support him. How precious is that?

Dad & Fred in the desert

Fred and Charlotte have a home near my parents' place in the desert. It is always fun to get together with them for dinner or a visit. They are so good with children, and were very kind to ours. I will always remember the first time they invited us to their home so that the children could enjoy swimming in a different pool.

David & Katie in the pool at TVC

And the time we went to dinner at Arnold Palmer's resturant, with Charlotte getting a kick out of David's questions about why we weren't using the valet parking. Or the time when they invited us to their beautiful club - and David brought a remote-control car along, to drive in the parking lot with the other fancy motors.

Fred & Charlotte are fun, intelligent, warm and adventurous. They have taken some wonderful guided trips with my parents and other friends. Some of their best stories come from the Stan Boreson Tours that they took together. We loved having them to our house for visits, sharing dinner at Burrata Bistro or a clam-feed on our deck, and they always appreciated a gift of lefse from our local Norwegian bakery (Charlotte is of Norwegian heritage).

Fred has a very dry sense of humor. He and my father are hilarious together, because my dad is theatrical and Fred is understated. Fred has a way of sputtering, especially in response to my father's more dramatic story-telling. We loved hearing Fred's gentle rumblings as he teased my dad. "Unbelievable!" was often all he had to say, but it was the way he said it that made it work.

Dad & Fred

Fred had some hilarious sayings. One of our favorites - and the most-quoted in our household - is, "It's not going well." He would say it slowly, quietly and with gentle sarcasm when things were getting well out of hand.

Fred was a hugger and kisser whenever we would get together. I will miss his loving greetings. He was always perfectly dressed and groomed, a very dapper and handsome man. He was a Marine who had been wounded three times in World War II, and still had his helmet with the hole in it. He was modest, but when we asked to see the helmet (and his Purple Heart medal), he showed them to us. It is impressive, as is his service record.

Fred and Charlotte came to the hospital to visit us when Katie was sick, and brought a book for her. They have been the most loyal, thoughtful, affectionate and sympathetic friends to my parents, coming all the way from Seattle to attend Katie's memorial service. They have encouraged us and supported our efforts in Katie's Endowment for Cancer Research. They have been kind, generous, always interested in David and in us. They are like extended family...and I feel as if my uncle has passed away.

Charlotte has asked that donations in Fred's memory go to either the Ryther Child Center or the Katie Gerstenberger Endowment for Cancer Research at Seattle Children's Hospital. We are overwhelmed with gratitude to her for thinking of the endowment, particularly at this painful time. Please remember our dear friend Fred and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

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.

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.

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!