Beverly Fund
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July 25, 2009
The Beverly Fund was founded in love. Tracy Sestili started the fund in memory of her mother who died from lung cancer. The Fund's purpose is to raise awareness and funds to help make a difference in the fight against lung cancer. It's an uphill battle. Lung cancer is the classic underdog receiving just a fraction of research funding that other,less deadly, cancers receive. I am a never smoker who was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in September 2006. My diagnosis came after a metastasis forming in one of my vertebrae spontaneously burst. Prior to sustaining the fracture I had no symptoms. I never even had a cough. In fact, I still don't have a cough. Before my diagnosis I thought it was impossible for a person who never smoked, never lived with a smoker, and was never exposed to radon or other hazardous chemicals, to ever get lung cancer. I learned I was wrong the hard way. I'm not alone. Twenty percent of female lung cancer patients are never smokers. Another 50% are patients who quit smoking, sometimes decades before their diagnosis. So far I've managed to defy the odds. I am a person, not a statistic. However, the fact remains that ninety percent of the stage iv patients diagnosed at the time I was have already died. Five year mortality for stage iv patients is even more dismal at 99.5%. Lung cancer kills more people than breast, prostate and colon cancers COMBINED. In 1971 when Richard Nixon declared war on cancer I was 11 years old. I was diagnosed 35 years later at 46 years of age. In all that time mortality was only reduced 1 or 2 percent. It's time lung cancer received the attention and funding it so desperately needs. Thankfully, people like Tracy and organizations like The Beverly Fund are rising to the challenge. They turned their loss and their grief into something positive and found a way to help others. On behalf of lung cancer patients everywhere I thank you. I end this review with the hopeful reminder that love always wins.
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The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
raised awareness.
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
keep trying, just like Tracy does.
More feedback...
What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...
the tireless dedication of its founder.
The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...
great. I only met Tracy, but she is a gem.
If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...
make a big difference for millions of patients.
Ways to make it better...
the effort undertaken by Tracy was magnified a hundred fold.
In my opinion, the biggest challenges facing this organization are...
destigmatizing lung cancer, destigmatizing lung cancer, and destigmatizing lung cancer. The fact is that anyone with lungs can get lung cancer and NO ONE DESERVES it.
One thing I'd also say is that...
because of the magnitude of the disease and the dearth of research funding there isn't a more deserving cause.
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2009
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