In 2010, a group of friends created a philanthropic organization called David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation with the goal of supporting one or two Families per year battling a cancer diagnosis.
Today, we wrote a grant check for our 1,001st Family affected by a cancer diagnosis. 694 Families offered financial assistance in just the past 3 years with countless more families receiving wellness services and emotional support. This would not be possible without the support from our Board of Directors, Patient Advocates, Service-Arm Providers, individual donors, business sponsors, community partners and volunteers who serve by our side as A Beacon of Hope to our families battling this deadly disease.
It’s only fitting that members from our youth group, Generation Dream share the news with all of you!
On behalf of Co-Founders Tim Hall and Carmen Malatino and our Board of Directors – thank you from the bottom of our hearts for affording us the opportunity to shine a bright light of Hope for families during their darkest of times.
Two new and highly successful DDBCF fundraising events were established in 2016:
a) The Inaugural Frank A. Cosimano Memorial Golf Classic presented by: Bergen Risk Managers and
b) Shave the Date presented by: Swing Graphics
The incredibly generous team from Informed Mortgage’s planned giving initiative set an all-time DDBCF record for Giving with an astounding $24,375.00 donated in the year 2016!
DDBCF welcomed 2 returning members back to the Board of Directors; Carmen Malatino and Kelly Powers; while three new Board Members Jason Cosimano, Steve Crisalli and former Director of Patient Advocacy Bill Raney were invited to serve as well. Office space for the Foundation was secured at 364 North Main Street, Suite 10D in Manahawkin, NJ.
Director of Patient Advocacy; Lauren M. Raney (7/28/1977-12/16/2016) was appointed by the Board of Directors as our Inaugural Trustee Emeritus.
2011 – 2016: 763 Families battling a cancer diagnosis have received $621,813.06 in Financial Grants!
All of us at David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation want to thank our patients and their families for inspiring us each and every day. It was an extremely difficult end to 2016 with the passing of so many loved ones and friends of DDBCF including: Mallory, Anthony, Virginia, Melissa, Michael, Phyllis, Layard, Alice, Patricia and Lauren. Our thoughts, prayers and love remain with all of these families. In the midst of her own battle with cancer, Lauren Raney proudly served as an original member of our Directors of Patient Advocacy Board in hopes that she could offer support to other patients battling this deadly disease. What Lauren may not have realized before her passing on December 16th is that she not only offered our current patients support and hope but lifted the spirits of any and every person that was blessed to have crossed paths with her.. On December 20th 2016, the DDBCF Board of Directors unanimously voted to appoint Lauren M. Raney as our first ever Trustee Emeritus. Lauren will be forever honored for her service as a Director of Patient Advocacy while all of us trust that she will eternally watch over and guide us on this journey.
Thank you to our Executive Partners at Informed Mortgage. Informed Mortgage’s planned giving initiative has set a high standard for charitable giving thanks to the efforts of Stephen, Christopher, Michael, Informed Mortgage Staff and all their customers.
Thank you to the parents and kids from our youth group, Generation Dream. This motivated, talented and compassionate group of kids are determined to make a positive impact in the lives of our patients and their families.
Thank you to students from our Southern Regional High School group led by teachers Ms. Rebecca Posch and Mrs Jody McLennan.
Thank you to our community partners, Dawn and Pete from Swing Graphics and Ryan Johnson from Ryan Johnson Photography for their help with photo, images and multiple revisions to content.
A special thank you to our Board of Directors (Steve Crisalli, Dani Corso, Kristin Panzone, Bill Raney, Kelly Powers, Jason Cosimano, Tim Hall) who serve the mission of the Foundation on a 100% volunteer basis!
Please take a minute to look back on 2016 with us in the attached summary of accomplishments. Please know that if you attended one of our events, donated an auction item, sponsored an event, volunteered or made an individual donation – YOU are responsible for providing HOPE to a family diagnosed with cancer that desperately needs our help. THANK YOU! Our Mantra for 2017 is: #WeWill
$10.00 includes one order of pancakes, bacon, sausage, coffee, soft drinks and pictures with Santa.
We will have Jetty printed DDBCF gear and our Southern Regional High School/DDBCF gear avilable at discounted prices for the perfect holiday gifts for family, friends and co-workers.
The 5th Annual Stafford Run for Hope presented by Informed Mortgage to benefit David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation (DDBCF) was the first year DDBCF was involved in the entire event. It was a very good first year and look forward to many more successful Run for Hope events. The original Stafford Triathlon/Duthlon was created by our friend and Race Director Ross Reynolds. Ross and his wife Marissa put forth a yeoman effort and we cannot thank them enough for supporting DDBCF. A special thanks to Chuck and Danielle Schnell and all the volunteers!
Our presenting sponsor Informed Mortgage in Manahawkin, NJ continue to set the bar very high. Informed Mortgage’s planned giving initiative to donate $25.00 per every closed loan out of their Manahawkin office was started last year. The planned giving continues today with the end result being a tremendous financial support system for our families battling cancer. Thank you Informed Mortgage.
We had 2 Main Sponsors for this year’s Stafford Run for Hope event. The Law Office of William Wright LLC in Manahawkin and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. William Wright competed in the this year’s events and took home some award hardware. We want to thank our friends at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. ER Tech Mike Rowe is also the Founder of 11th Hour Racing and led the triathlon relay team to a first place finish in the relay division. The team consisted of Dr. Rich Massone in the swim, Dr. Katie O’Leary on the bike and Mike on the run. Mike formed this nonprofit to assist patients at TJUH in need of financial assistance. We look forward to partnering with Mike and the entire TJUH in the future!
We want to thank our student group from Southern Regional High School led by teachers Rebecca Posch and Jody Denn McLennan. We had more than 20 SRHS students volunteering on the day of event and additional students participating in the race. Great job & Thank You!
We want to say a special thank you to sponsor and creative artist for the 5th Annual SRFH: Swing Graphics. Dawn and Pete have been a huge support system for DDBCF over the past year and we look forward to continuing this partnership! Thank you to our friends and community partners at Jetty for printing this years event shirts. Thank you to local radio station WJRZ FM 100.1 for promoting this year’s run.
A special thanks to Stafford Township Police Dept., DQ Events, Road ID, Surf City Lifeguards, Shore Brake Cyclery, LBI TriClub, Typestries Sign & Design, Stafford Township Recreation Department, Ocean County Parks & Recreation, Fusaro’s Pizza, Manhattan Bagel and Bagels & Beyond!
Last but certainly not least, we want to thank members of our youth group Generation Dream. These future leaders raised money on their own for our families battling a cancer diagnosis. We have collected $3,002.00 from this group so far and could not be more proud of them. A special thanks to Alyssa Antonelli, Domenic Crisalli, (Reese, Maddie and Landon Beirne) who collected almost $2,200.00 on their own! Great Job & Thank You!
