Donations / Membership - You can make a difference
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Before we ask you to join with us in our efforts to overcome
oral cancer, we would like you to think for a moment about
non-profit foundations in general. Why do foundations like
ours exist? There are many reasons, but primarily they
come into being because a particular need is not being
met adequately through any other means. They exist to increase
awareness of that need or problem, drawing public, professional,
and governmental attention to its unique situation. Foundations
then apply that public awareness to effect change. Worthy
endeavors in the form of non-profit foundations abound.
Those that seek to protect our environment, that help shed
light and elucidate diseases and chronic conditions that
burden lives, others that champion social causes, or lift
the human spirit. All worthy in their own right. Our government
cannot allocate the resources to every worthy cause which
exists. Professional associations in the arts, sciences,
medicine, education, etc. also cannot meet the demands
of every need, even within the more finely tuned scope
of their efforts. Foundations attempt to fill these voids,
and their efforts and contributions have been profound.
They have protected endangered species, preserved habitats
and wilderness, championed the rebirth of inner cities
and provided opportunities for the underserved and the
less privileged of the worlds populations. They have fed
the hungry and moved governments to change. Cures for disease
and important medical research are furthered by their involvement,
and they have enriched lives with exposure to arts.
Of course many more positives could be added to this list,
but their most important contribution is more subtle, they
give voice to those who alone may not be heard. When an
idea or cause is acted on by a chorus of voices speaking
in unison, it will be heard. The individual voice, amplified
through a foundation becomes the catalyst for change and
empowerment, the creator of hope, and the general improvement
of the quality of our existence.
People become involved in foundations for a simple reason. They share a common value with the goals and visions of the foundation. Through their association, they add their voice, their time, and money to a cause which speaks to their own individual value system. In a world where the focus frequently seems to be on the selfish enrichment of individuals and personal consumerism, those who join with a cause set themselves apart. When you hear of a foundations success in a particular endeavor, it is in reality, the thousands of private individual voices of their members whose synergistic contributions have effected that change. While foundations and their causes often are able to accomplish a particular goal through the benevolence of a major corporate partner, or private individual with the financial independence to altruistically further that effort, most financial support arrives in thousands of small increments. The individual memberships and small donations of concerned and more importantly, involved, private individuals allow a foundation to carry out both its mission and vision.
Many have called oral cancer an "orphan disease" since no one until now has come forward to adopt the cause and champion its defeat. A killer who takes more lives than commonly known diseases such as cervical cancer and skin cancer, it has gone relatively unchallenged. For decades there has been little or no improvement in the numbers and statistics which count its deadly existence. There has been little effective effort to increase the publics' awareness of this disease, and how they can reduce the risk of oral cancer touching their own lives. Professions who have had the ability to decrease the morbidity and death rate through early detection have not involved themselves adequately in efforts to do so. It is time for a change. We ask you to join with us in our efforts to educate the public to the risks, and to create in their minds an understanding of the need for an annual screening to find oral cancer at its earliest stages where it is most likely to be cured. We ask you to add your voice to those encouraging the medical and dental professions to aggressively become involved in its detection at these curable stages. To join with us in the implementation of initiatives in prevention of the disease through education of our youth and those most at risk of developing oral cancer, and to help search for improved methods and technologies to discover, diagnose, and cure oral cancers. Through your membership and donations, you will contribute to all these goals. You will become a partner and a voice in a chorus for change and healing.
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a little bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even on elife has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
