Philanthropy is a way of speeding up research, often much faster than grant funding. The process to acquire grants takes a long time – it can take years sometimes. For patients looking at the clock and measuring time, that’s terrible that it can takes that long to get research support. Philanthropic dollars can be immediately put to use. The BC Cancer Foundation can fund areas of research that granting bodies may not be able to fund.
The discovery of the EPI drug compound was made possible by generous donations, which helped to seed our research work. In 2007, dedicated members of the public asked what was needed to quicken my lab’s efforts to find a drug. I mentioned that I needed robotics that would cost more than half-a-million dollars. Less than one year later, the dollars came. Through the BC Cancer Foundation, my lab received tremendous support through events like the Country Meadows Senior Men’s Golf Charity event, the FORE par golf charity event, and other donors who shared the passion and vision of finding a new treatment for prostate cancer.
Harold Mahood, who I mentioned in a previous post, was a champion behind the Country Meadows event. He was a member of their golf club and helped to organize the tournament with the BC Cancer Foundation in support of my research in prostate cancer. BC Cancer Foundation donors help make research possible and get ideas developed.
Marianne
