Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays!

All of us at David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation want to wish everyone Happy Holidays from our family to yours! We want to thank our tremendous donors, sponsors and volunteers who afford us the opportunity to offer Hope to our families.

Thank you to the parents & children from our youth service group “Generation Dream” who remind us: “Giving begins with the person in the mirror & together we can create a tidal wave of Kindness, Love and Hope!

A very special thanks to the patients and families that have touched our lives this year.  You inspire us on a daily basis by sharing your indomitable spirit with us on a daily basis and you continue to do more for us than we ever could do for you!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

 

I’ve been messaged and called repeatedly over the past week leading up to Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. “AWARENESS” has become an embattled word lately but I would suggest any awareness that brings attention to the lack of funding for Childhood cancer research is a VERY good thing. We only need to look to the most recent “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge” to see the positive results from a successful awareness campaign. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge not only raised awareness for the disease “ALS” but raised an incredible amount of donations to fund future research.

All of us at David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation (DD&BCF) have personally felt the unyielding grief from Childhood Cancer with the loss of some of our dearest friends: Samantha, Rebecca, Gabby, Hannah and Miranda! There’s not a day goes by that I do not think about these amazing and beautiful souls that touched my life in such a special and meaningful way. I understand that sharing a gold flyer on your Facebook page, painting your nails gold for the month or wearing a gold pin may be viewed by some as meaningless or less than effective but I would propose those same ACTIONS could spark a discussion that leads to increased funding for Childhood cancer research. I feel comfortable saying with a high degree of certainty that the families for Samantha, Rebecca, Gabby, Hannah and Miranda believe any discussions or raising awareness that lead to increased funding for Childhood cancer research is not a good thing but a critically valuable tool in eradicating the words Pediatric Childhood Oncologist from the dictionary! AWARENESS brings your attention to a subject that you may not normally be exposed to and in this case it could result in saving the lives of children battling this deadly disease. My Facebook profile picture will be Gold this month as a way for me to raise awareness for the lack of funding for childhood cancer research but it’s also a way for me to remember and honor my friends that I miss so much!

Our youth sub-group called Generation Dream is dedicated to generating a ripple effect of kindness, hope and love for our families in NJ battling a cancer diagnosis. They will also be writing their local, state and federal representatives this month to ask them for increased funding for Childhood cancer research!

 

Sincerely, David

 

Boardwalk Fun Day!

Boardwalk Fun Day
Boardwalk Fun Day

 

We want to thank American Cancer Society of NY/NJ for entrusting Boardwalk Fun Day with David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation. We readily accepted the invitation to take over this event for families battling a cancer diagnosis. We want to thank the Seaside Heights Business Improvement District for making the event possible & Seaside Heights Boardwalk businesses that participated in the event.

We were so excited going into this event and our excitement was only confirmed when the first few families showed up to check-in. The kids had a sparkle in their eyes and the parents repeatedly told us that their families looked forward to this event every single year. For some, they attended Boardwalk Fun Day for almost 10 years and others it was their first time but the joy was present in each and every family.

David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation and Generation Dream are already looking forward to next year’s Boardwalk Fun Day!

 

Generation Dream

We were excited to hear that a small group from our youth group Generation Dream were busy last night hand-painting sea shells so they could accept donations today on behalf of David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation. Cuade, Collin and Cuinnie shown in the picture below were busy outside of Peal Street Market in Beach Haven, NJ today raising awareness and donations to help our families battling a cancer diagnosis. Please keep an eye and ear out for our Generation Dream group which was created by one of our newest directors Kimberly Manzella! These kids are dedicated to Making A Difference in our community and world!

Generation Dream (Cuade, Collin & Cuinnie)
Generation Dream (Cuade, Collin & Cuinnie)

Generation Dream

The kids from our youth sub-group of David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation called Generation Dream are going to be very busy this week! Generation Dream will have a tent at the LBI Foundation’s 8th Annual Barnegat Bay Day & Go Green Expo on Wednesday from 12-4pm. Generation Dream will have sign-up sheets to join our youth group and will also have eco-friendly beverage tumblers available for a small donation so please stop by to say hello! Thursday morning at 10am, the Generation Dream team travel to our friends at Jetty for a tour of the local surf company’s facilities and to watch their Generation Dream t-shirts being printed by the Jetty crew. On Saturday July 12th, it’s our DD&BCF Night at the Lakewood Blueclaws featuring Generation Dream. We are selling individual Blueclaws tickets for $10 and our combo package includes game ticket, bus ride, food & non-alcoholic beverage for $30. The 56 person bus will be leaving Ocean Acupuncture & Herbal Medicine Wellness Center (102 East Bay Avenue) promptly at 4:30pm and returning immediately after the game. Please contact us directly at: generationdream2014@gmail.com to reserve your tickets and seat on the bus today!

 

Generation Dream
Generation Dream

Reynolds to the Rescue!!!

A few weeks ago, we sent an urgent S.O.S. to our supporters asking for help with one of our patients struggling with the burdens of a cancer diagnosis from our local hospital Southern Ocean Medical Center.  That call was answered within 24 hours by our friends the Reynolds family who own Reynolds Garden Shop & Landscaping in Manahawkin. Our patient is on a very low fixed income per month and was due to unforeseen circumstances going to be without a place to live starting July 1st. David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation was not going to let this happen and the Reynolds family partnered with us on this new mission. We also worked very closely with the nurse navigators at Southern Ocean Medical Center. The end result of meetings with the nurse navigators, multiple meetings with the Reynolds family usually at 5am, the use of a Reynolds box truck, Reynolds crew for a day and one of our directors assisting us last Saturday was our patient has a safe and comfortable home! This will give her time to focus on healing and allow her time to look for a more long-term living arrangement! We are blessed to work alongside so many amazing families and local businesses dedicated to serving our community. We could not have pulled off this major undertaking without the support from the Reynolds family!

THANK YOU REYNOLDS FAMILY!

Reynolds Garden Shop & Landscaping
Reynolds Garden Shop & Landscaping

 

Frank V Panzone Jr. Memorial Cruisin for a Cure Wrap-Up

THANK YOU! That is the major theme for this wrap-up of the 2nd Annual Frank V Panzone Jr. Memorial Cruisin for a Cure! Jillian Elsasser (Panzone) got the planning started for our 2nd Annual Frank V Panzone Jr. Memorial Cruisin for a Cure with an email after she had just left our Crabbin for a Cure event at Mud City Crab House on October 23rd. There were countless meetings, phone calls, emails and tireless efforts from so many for the better part of 7 months all to make sure our guests were going to have a good time at this year’s event but ultimately our goal is to always try to raise the highest amount of donations possible so we could support our patients/families battling a cancer diagnosis. The end result from those tireless efforts was a current donation total of $36,000+ and counting (doubling last year’s total) and a subsequent email was sent to SOMC this morning telling them we will be ready to start accepting new patient applications on June 1st. This is only made possible by the overwhelming generosity of our Committee Members, Guests, Cruisers, Sponsors, Auction Donors, Food Vendors, Musicians, Volunteers, owner Danielle Pessolano and staff from Joe Pop’s Shore Bar & Restaurant and our Main Event Sponsor Panzone’s Pizza and the Panzone Family!  We must single out a few key people and we need to start with the Panzone family: Joyce Panzone, Kristin Panzone, Jillian Elsasser (Panzone), Jillian’s husband Todd Elsasser and Kristin’s boyfriend John. All of us at David’s Dream and Believe Cancer Foundation are honored to have Kristin and Jillian join the Board of Directors for the Foundation. We would not be able to pull off this amazing event without Kristin and Jillian’s efforts. We will just tell you that they’re both responsible for managing every aspect of this year’s event and Kristin is the creative genius behind our logo, fliers, signs, social media images and new to this year’s event our Cruisin Fashion Collection which will be up on our website in a day or two. They were the ones that purchased ALL the candy for the Panzone’s Cruisin Candy Drive for the past 6 months and anything else remotely attached to this event. A special thanks goes out to Catherine Deely for all of her efforts recruiting new sponsors, soliciting auction donors and setting up the auction at Joe Pop’s. Catherine has worked for the Panzone family since she was 14 and looked up to Frank as a second father her entire life. Her work on this event is a labor of love and tribute to the pay it forward mentality of her hero Frank Panzone! Finally, thank you to our namesake and HERO for this event Frank V Panzone Jr. For those that don’t know, we renamed our Cruisin for a Cure event the Frank V Panzone Jr. Memorial Cruisin for a Cure to honor and pay tribute to a man that spent his life giving to his community. We could go on and on about Chowderfest, Chamber of Commerce President but we like to think about that first Cruisin for a Cure when Frank rode his Harley in terrible weather conditions with his daughter Jillian on the back of his bike while undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments of his own. It was important for him to ride in the midst of his own pain to benefit others battling this deadly disease!

Mother Theresa said, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” Frank created a tidal wave and we are honored to pay tribute to him with this event that will continue to serve patients and families in dire need of our assistance. Thank you to everybody that took part in our 2nd Annual Frank V Panzone Jr. Memorial Cruisin for a Cure! See you next year!

Thank you,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          David

Frank V Panzone Jr. Memorial Cruisin for a Cure
Frank V Panzone Jr. Memorial Cruisin for a Cure

Thank You Jeremy!

David’s Dream and Believe Cancer Foundation wants to recognize Jeremy DeFilippis for his dedication, commitment and service on our Board of Directors for the past 3 years. Jeremy is stepping down as a director but is committed to supporting the Foundation and specifically our patients, which is exactly what he has done since day one. Jeremy has successfully served as Vice President, Treasurer and Director during his 3 years on the board. The picture below is the only one we have with Jeremy and me in the same picture. We are sitting with some very special friends and it captures a much deeper meaning. This was taken after the 2011 Jetty Coquina Jam, which was the first year Jeremy, the Jetty staff and Coquina Committee decided to make their all-female surf contest a benefit for DDBCF and specifically our local breast cancer patients. The Foundation was on life support leading up to that event, until we received the infusion of positive vibes from Jeremy, the entire Jetty team and everybody involved in the 2011 Jetty Coquina Jam! We have never looked back since that event and the positive vibes and pay it forward spirit have supported 20 families in 2011, 50 in 2012 and 134 last year! We will continue to work closely with Jeremy and partner with Jetty and the Jetty Rock Foundation to better serve our community. Please support this local brand and make your plans now to join us for Jetty Coquina Jam 2014 on Saturday August 2nd! Thank you Jeremy!

 

Jeremy - David_Coquina 2011

2013 Overview and Accomplishments

In October, I had the chance to meet many of the supporters behind David’s Dream and Believe Cancer Foundation at Crabbin’ for a Cure.  What a humbling experience to see how big the hearts are of so many people that have joined us in Saving Lives by Fighting Cancer Together.  Reflecting with this group, I had the opportunity to share my initial thoughts from the time period when David, several friends and I started the Foundation.   This was back in 2010.  These thoughts were that we might raise $10,000 to $15,000 a year and help a handful of people each year.  I also shared that David had vision way beyond my myopic view.  David was Dreaming and Believing and he saw the hundreds of people that might share in our vision of helping people fight their battle.  Because of David’s vision, DDBCF has supported well over 200 patients and their families over the past 3 years.  Behind each person served are supporters like those of you reading this now – people who have a strong desire to help plant seeds of Faith, Hope and Love in the midst of these individual battles.  The directors of the Foundation are all blessed by what you have enabled this Foundation to do.  We often hear, first-hand from David, about how the Foundation’s support to patients and families kindles a spark of Hope and fuels a fire of Faith.  Hope and Faith are so important in the darkest days of the fight.  These essentials both become magnified when the graciousness of DDBCF contributors makes it way to patients and families in need.  Furthermore, the personalized support and attention David delivers with the financial assistance amplifies the impact of your giving spirit.  With Thanks and enthusiasm for where we have come and where we will go, we wish you a Happy New Year.  Please take a minute to look back on 2013 with us in the attached summary.  We hope that you will continue to join us as we DREAM and BELIEVE!  

Tim Hall, President

2013 Dream and Believe Accomplishments
2013 Dream and Believe Accomplishments

 

 

GIVING THANKS!

 

As we approach the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I want to take a minute to update all of our supporters and thank you! We set out on a mission 3 years ago to assist families dealing with the financial burden that comes with a cancer diagnosis. We thought it would be awesome if we could assist 1 or 2 families a year. In our first full year of existence in 2011 we were able to assist 20 families and last year we were able to assist another 50 families. 2013 has another 51 days left but so far this year we have been able to support over 102 families. This number of families hit us between the eyes and went straight to our heart. The families were not 1 or 2 but 102! You can ask any of our families that we have cared for this year or since our existence and I think you would find we not only offered them financial assistance or transportation but in some if not all of our families the emotional support that helped them during their most difficult battle with this disease.

None of this would be possible without the tremendous support of so many. To the past and current board of directors that gallantly serve the mission of the Foundation every day – thank you! To our extremely generous sponsors that support our events – thank you! To our amazing guests and attendees at our events – thank you! To all those individuals and businesses that donate wonderful auction items for our events – thank you! To the most incredible volunteers in the world – thank you! To each and every person that shares our mission through your social media – thank you! To children like Tyler Quinn from Barnegat, Hadley Magaziner from Manahawkin & Anna Burnett from LBI and to the most remarkable 3rd and 4th grade children from McKinley Avenue Elementary School – thank you!

Most importantly, thank you to our patients for inspiring us each and every day. Your personal strength, courage and grace are a true testament of your survivor spirit. In the dictionary, Survivor is defined as: 1. To remain alive or in existence. 2. To carry on despite hardships or trauma; persevere. Our patients and caregivers show us examples on a daily basis what it means to fight to remain alive despite hardships or trauma. True Survivors in every sense of the word! Our patients and families also know through David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation that people care, love and are offering them hope!

Our President Tim Hall & Vice President Melanie Magaziner will offer a year-end review for everybody around Christmas. For now, I want to give thanks for the growing number of Dreamers that Believe “We Can Make A Difference!” YOU are Making A Difference in the lives of so many. I would ask that you share this blog or post with your family, friends or business because YOU have made the impossible – possible!

I thank you with all of my heart and soul!

 

DREAM AND BELIEVE!

David