David M. Cognetti, MD, FACS Associate Professor and Co-Director, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center of Thomas Jefferson University
In recognition of an outstanding individual or agency instrumental in filling hearts with HOPE and shining a LIGHT in the darkness of cancer. We are proud and honored to recognize Dr. David M. Cognetti of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia with our “BEACON OF HOPE AWARD!
Dr. Cognetti was born and raised in Scranton, Pa (where all roads meet.) He is the second tallest of nine children. He and his siblings spent their childhood rooting against the Philadelphia Eagles and vacationing down the shore in Ocean City, NJ. He currently serves as the Co-director of the Jefferson Center for Head and Neck Surgery. At Jefferson, he initiated (with the help of dedicated colleagues and tremendous nursing teams) programs in Transoral Robotic Surgery as well as Sialendoscopy, both of which are innovative technologies that eliminate the need for radical open surgery. Both programs were one of the earliest of their kind in the United States and are currently among the busiest in the country.
Dr. Cognetti received his BS in Biology from Georgetown University, where he made an unsuccessful walk-on bid for the men’s basketball team. He received his MD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, where his future wife scored higher than him on all medical school exams and achieved a contested victory over him in a 10k race. He completed a residency in Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University before completing a fellowship in Advanced Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Cognetti returned to Jefferson, his professional home, as faculty in 2008.
Dr. Cognetti has served many leadership roles at the institutional, regional, and national levels. He completed the Jefferson Leadership Academy and currently serves as the chair of the Operating Room Committee at Jefferson. He serves as the Secretary/Treasurer for the Pennsylvania Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. He is the chair of the Head and Neck Surgery Education Committee for the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and the co-chair of the History Committee of the Endocrine Surgery Section of the American Head and Neck Society. He also serves on the Head and Neck Steering Committee Rare Tumors Task Force for the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute. He has received a Castle Connolly Top Doc Award for the past three years. Above all, he is tirelessly committed to the care of patients, in Philadelphia, Haiti, and beyond, and he is constantly looking at ways to improve systems and outcomes. He currently resides in Penn Valley, PA with his supportive wife, Missy, and their three strong and independent daughters, Julia, Claire, and Sophia.
This black-tie optional gala, hosted by Cydney Long of NBC10 Philadelphia will feature a cocktail reception with American Idol’s Cara Samantha, speeches from the 2017 Beacon of Hope Award Recipient Dr. David Cognetti (TJUH), Mr. David Neu (Neu Center for Supportive Medicine & Cancer Survivorship), Big Daddy Graham (cancer survivor and fellow patient of Dr. Cognetti’s) & Dawn Aversa (DDBCF volunteer and mother of a young child who successfully battled cancer). Following the elegant cocktail hour will be a plated dinner served in the Aquarium’s magnificent ballroom where guests will have the opportunity to bid on auction items while being treated to a private concert by G. Love & Special Sauce.
This event benefits quality of life for cancer patients through the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson’s Neu Center for Supportive Medicine & Cancer Survivorship, Jefferson Health’s Mission in Haiti through the Jefferson Department of Otolaryngology and David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation.
About the Gala:
The inaugural Hope Under the Sea Gala honors the relationship between Stage IV cancer patient David Caldarella (Co-founder, David’s Dream and Believe Cancer Foundation), Dr. David Cognetti (Associate Professor and Co-Director, Jefferson Head and Neck Surgery), along with the entire Thomas Jefferson University Hospital team. This partnership shares a common goal to serve as a Beacon of Hope, and each year, the Gala will recognize one outstanding individual with the “Beacon of Hope Award”.
We are proud to announce that the 2017 Beacon of Hope Award recipient is Dr. David Cognetti!
HAITI MISSION TRIP 2017 “There’s a Chance that Lives in every Dream”
The following blog represents my own personal thoughts and feelings on a recent mission trip to Haiti. The invitation to accompany Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (TJUH) was the opportunity and experience of a lifetime. I was blessed to join the amazing doctors and nurses from University of Miami and TJUH including my dear friend and lifesaving surgeon, Dr. David M. Cognetti, M.D., FACS, Co-Director, Jefferson Center for Head and Neck Surgery, and Associate Professor, Department of Otolaryngology- Head & Neck Surgery at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. I was equally blessed to have my friend of 25+ years and professional photographer Michael John Murphy join the trip. Michael is a kind soul and it was a real personal comfort for me to have him along on this journey. Thankfully, I will lean on Michael’s pictures to better tell the incredible story of this mission trip to Haiti.
We arrived in Haiti on Sunday afternoon and headed straight St. Luke’s Hospital after dumping our gear in the compound so the doctors and nurses could unload supplies and meet with patients for surgery. We started each morning with breakfast in our compound and then attended church service at 7am. We were joined at church by locals as well as groups from University of Scranton, Canada, Italy and France. Unfortunately, daily mass also included funeral services for far too many babies and children.
This stark reality served as a constant reminder and backdrop for our trip. However, chapel always provided a peaceful and spiritual start to our day. The entire crew was present for mass each morning and brought a sense of unity to the group.
I followed the funeral procession from chapel on our first day to the final resting spot for the deceased. I joined Dr. David Cognetti’s cousin Dr. Peter Cognetti and his kids, Anne and Will for the rest of the day. We visited St. Damien’s Pediatric Hospital where one of the rooms is designated for abandoned children. These babies and children are left to fend for themselves and are often brought to St. Damien’s for needed care, love and eventually placed with an orphanage. This room is most likely the first place these beautiful children feel human touch. The image above shows Anne Cognetti and me visiting with the children.
St. Damien’s complex also houses a warehouse, chicken coops, tilapia breeding ponds, gardens, bakery and various other opportunities for locals to support themselves. After the pediatric hospital visit, we finished the first day by helping Founder Fr. Rick Frechette organize the construction supplies section of the warehouse. The photo above shows the completed task.
Michael and I joined a group heading to Cite’ Soleil for our second day. It took us approximately one hour from chapel at St. Damien’s through the “streets” of Port Au’ Prince” to get to Cite’ Soleil where we were met by local gang leaders who would later serve as translators between the Haitian people and our doctors. We set up a pop-up clinic on this day where somewhere between 50-100 patients were seen by our doctors.
The devastation and destruction that we witnessed in this area will remain with us for the rest of our lives. The people are welcoming of any support and hope could be seen in the eyes of the children. This was evident when our friend Chris shared some clothing and a couple new soccer balls with them. The picture above was taken by Michael as we arrived at St. Mary’s where we set up our clinic for the day. The small bridge was a gateway over mountains of waste and trash that here at home we would only see in an open landfill. However, this is where people lived in aluminum huts if they were lucky with animals rummaging through this canal of waste that led to the Atlantic Ocean. The cleared parcel of dirt along their “beach” visible to the right of the canal of waste in the picture above is where kids migrate after school to play soccer. The plight of the human condition throughout this country is unimaginable and Cite’ Soleil shakes you to your very core!
Our third full day was spent with the University of Miami and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital doctors, nurses and team members. Michael continued to photograph. I spent the day operating the blood supply circulation pump and supporting the medical team however possible. The photo above shows one of the times that we were greeted by a blackout during surgery. The team remained focused and many IPhone flashlights were turned on as you can see in the right corner of the picture above. Our medical team worked side by side with skilled Haitian surgeons like Dr. Patrick Jean Gilles, nurses and medical team members.
This image captured by Michael in surgery is one of my favorites of the entire trip and doesn’t need much of an explanation. I am helping Dr. Cognetti with his surgical gown as he prepares to operate on a Haitian patient. This was an equally gratifying and extremely emotional day for me on so many levels. I was the patient almost 7 years ago, on the surgical table and now to be serving others side by side with some of the surgical team that saved my life including Dr. Cognetti and nurse Carol from TJUH was truly a moment in my life that I will cherish forever. It was extremely humbling to witness the skill, care and compassion delivered by the medical team and as a former patient I can appreciate the quality of their lifesaving care.
Our compound had an outdoor eating/meeting area and flats that would house up to 6 people. Michael and I shared a room in our flat with Dr. Cognetti and first-year Jefferson University medical student Matthew along with a pediatric doctor and his wife from Italy. There was one bathroom and we were fortunate to have cold running water out of the shower if at all. Each bed came equipped with a mosquito net, and although I was glad to be protected from nasty disease carrying mosquito’s, my net decided to fall on me from the ceiling on the first night. I’m not sure if I was more scared or I scared Michael more with my screams thinking I was being attacked by my mosquito net in the middle of the night. We were so grateful for our accommodations because nearby there was so much despair and devastation.
Michael captured this picture in a newly-built chapel inside the compound at St. Luke’s Hospital prior to leaving for Port Au Prince Airport for our return trip home. I started to feel sick our last night in Haiti so I think this picture the next morning captures me physically and emotionally drained reflecting deeply on the mission experience. I was thinking about the Haitian people, loved ones at home and those special angels that watch over us now. I felt God’s presence in this moment as much as I did during my battle with cancer. I also know a wave of emotion came over me at some point in this quiet moment regarding the totality of this mission trip. Tears started to flow and my heart was empty and full all at the same time.
This is my favorite picture of our amazing “Dream Team” including new friend “cookie the dog” who joined us for the picture. Michael captured thousands of incredible images and I look forward to sharing his photo journal link very soon.
It was truly an honor to have been invited by the Jefferson team to join this Haiti mission trip and to share a common goal in serving as “A Beacon of Hope” that shines beyond our borders and out into the global community!
On November 15, 2016, I attended a presentation at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (TJUH), where my surgeon Dr. David Cognetti and his colleagues Dr. Joseph Curry and Dr. Adam Luginbuhl spoke about several topics including the Complex Head and Neck Care and Education (CHANCE) mission trip to Haiti. Jefferson has one of the top ranked Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) programs in the United States, and they believe this care should not be limited to those who can travel to Philadelphia. Through the CHANCE mission trip to Haiti, they’re able to expand their impact and give individuals suffering from a complex thyroid disease or head injury a better chance of surviving. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and were still digging out from the earthquake of 2010 that killed at least 200,000 when Hurricane Matthew hit in October 2016 killing an additional 600+. Still today, nearly a million people are looking for food and drinkable water every day.
Jefferson team members have partnered with skilled Haitian doctors for the past two years to provide 150 Haitians with care, hope and a chance at Hospital Lumiere in Bonne Finne and St. Luke’s Hospital in Port-Au-Prince. The Jefferson team members also connect with Haitian people locally, attending mass and seeing how their spirits are lifted through songs and prayer. Dr. David M. Cognetti, M.D., FACS, Co-Director, Jefferson Center for Head and Neck Surgery, and Associate Professor, Department of Otolaryngology- Head & Neck Surgery at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University; offered the following comments in a recent interview about the upcoming trip. “Jefferson’s CHANCE foundation is not only about bringing medical care to Haiti, but also about educating the local medical professionals on how to continue the care after our visits. When Jefferson was looking for a volunteer to provide a patient’s perspective, David Caldarella immediately came to mind. Not only has he experienced head and neck surgery firsthand, but, as a lifelong resident of Long Beach Island, he has also witnessed the devastating effects a Hurricane can have on a community.”
I’m blessed to be a dear friend and former patient of Dr. Cognetti’s and now a volunteer at TJUH. The invitation to accompany Jefferson’s amazing team on a 4-day mission trip to Haiti leaving Sunday January 22nd, is an opportunity of a lifetime. I will serve in a support role for the team and interact as a patient advocate to the families of patients through local interpreters. Overall Patient Support is of utmost importance to all of us at David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation and being able to watch and learn directly from the care providers at Jefferson and staff in Haiti will afford me the opportunity to bring those valuable techniques home to current and future patients of DDBCF. My friend of 25 years and respected photographer Michael John Murphy has also been invited to join us on the mission to visually capture many impactful moments. It is truly an honor to have been invited by the Jefferson team to join this Haiti mission trip and to share a common goal in serving as “A Beacon of Hope” that shines beyond our borders and out into the global community!
We held our 4th Annual Island Gala “Hope Under the Stars”on Friday August 5th at the Sea Shell Resort & Beach Club. It was a beautiful night filled with HOPE Under the Stars!
The most critical information about David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation (DDBCF) was conveyed to the crowd by Co-Founder, David Caldarella during the opening ceremony. 634 Families battling cancer have been supported by DDBCF over the past 5.5 years. 312 families in the first 4 years of existence and 322 in the past 1.5 years. A group of friends set out to assist 1-2 patients affected by a cancer diagnosis per year. DDBCF is currently on pace to offer solely financial assistance to a patient/family every 1.46 days in 2016 and if you add in the emotional support and hope – that number rapidly drops to 1 patient/family per day! Truly an incredible milestone for the DDBCF Family and the supporters that make this “Generosity of Spirit” possible throughout the year! THANK YOU!
The highlight of the evening was hearing from Co-Founder of David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation (DDBCF); Tim Hall, Co-Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital; Dr. David Cognetti and 3 of the new Directors Patient of Advocacy for David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation: Dawn Aversa, Susie Buzby and Tina Angers. Tim spoke about the origin of DDBCF and in particular a story of Hope when his friend of 40 years David Caldarella was at his darkest point during his battle with stage IV head and neck cancer and one of his best friends Carmen Malatino created a CD of recorded voicemail’s from family, friends and Dr. David Cognetti encouraging David to Dream & Believe. Dr. Cognetti talked about his personal relationship with his patient David Caldarella and his recollection of the early stages of DDBCF all the way through today. Dawn, Susie and Tina spoke about their personal experiences with cancer as a caregiver in Dawn’s case and survivor’s in Susie and Tina’s and the positive impact DDBCF has had in their lives.
We want to start by thanking our partner and Platinum sponsors for the 4th Annual Island Gala: Informed Mortgage. Everybody in attendance heard David explain the planned giving initiative created by Informed Mortgage in collaboration with Dani Corso from Volatile Media Management and Communications Director for DDBCF. Informed Mortgage donates $25.00 per every closed loan out of their Manahawkin office to DDBCF. This partnership has resulted in planned giving donations of $27,500.00 to DDBCF from the Informed Mortgage team in Manahawkin, NJ. Please give them a call today for any of your mortgage or refi needs especially with all-time low interest rates!
Thank you to the Reynolds Family and Reynolds Garden Shop, Nursery, Floral Market and Landscaping for their continued support of DDBCF and their Gold Sponsorship of the 4th Annual Island Gala. The absolutely breathtaking “VIP” floral arrangements and stunning landscapes surrounding the “Hope Tiki Garden” were simply Amazing!
A special thank you to Tom Hughes, Jaimee Boyle and Brittany Solon from the Sea Shell Resort & Beach Club. This incredible family and their staff continue to care for this event as if it were an event for a family member and we cannot thank them enough.
The artwork and graphics for the event including flyers, posters and invites were all beautifully done by Dawn and Peter from Swing Graphics. We want to thank Typestries and Copyrite for all of our printing needs. Thank you to LeAnna Gerety from LeAnna Theresa Photography and Tony Coon from Darn Swell Media for the photography and video.
Our Board of Directors and volunteers are second to none and this event puts their selfless giving for our families battling cancer on center stage. Their generosity of spirit for the families of DDBCF battling a cancer diagnosis goes far beyond, “Paying it Forward” and for that we love them!
Thank you to our guests and sponsors. You are “Vehicles of Hope” to so many!
Platinum Sponsors:
Informed Mortgage & Bill & Kirsten Jordan
Gold Sponsors:
Reynolds Landscaping, D. Finelli Construction & Southern Ocean Medical Center
Silver Sponsors:
Thomas V. Massa DMD & Associates, Paul Jr. Designs, Ocean First Bank/Ocean First Foundation & Dan & Karen Raugh
Bronze Sponsors:
Panzone’s Pizza, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Lou’s Electric, Anderson Insurance Agency, G. Anderson Agency, Walt McCollum Plumbing, Heating & Cooling, SOMC Foundation, The Van Dyk Group, Lumby Family, Bruce & Beth Fisher, Invisalign, Perry & Barbara Kaplan, Phillip & Christine Kaputa, John & Dee Vanderslice, Brandon Systems, Zelus Consulting Group & Rue Insurance.
Mark your calendars now for the 5th Annual Island Gala on Friday August 4th 2017!
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!
The 5th Annual Stafford Run for HOPE: Tri/Du/Aqua/5K will take place on Saturday June 18th at Manahawkin Lake Park in Manahawkin, NJ! This is the 5th year for the Stafford Tri/Du/Aqua event but this is the first year that David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation will be integrally involved in this event in collaboration with our friend Ross Reynolds from Trident Multipsort! We want to thank our friends at Informed Mortgage for signing on as our Presenting Sponsor. We cannot thank the team at Informed Mortgage enough for their continued dedication and commitment to better serve our families affected by a cancer diagnosis!
We are very excited that our David’s Dream & Believe student group from Southern Regional High Schoolwill be managing various aspects of this event for us and will have many students participating in the race. Our youth group Generation Dream will have many members and their families participating in this event.
We are also excited to announce a new partnership with 11th Hour Racing. This organization created by Mike Rowe who is an ED/Trauma Tech in the ER at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia where our Co-Founder David Caldarella was treated for Stage IV Head and Neck cancer. 11th Hour Racing’s mission is very similar to that of David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation and Mike and David have created a friendship and partnership that will benefit our mutual families battling a cancer diagnosis!
We are still accepting sponsorships for the 5th Annual Stafford Run for Hope: Tri/Du/Aqua/5K! Click on Sponsorship Form link below.
The biggest takeaways from an incredible few months being involved with the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigator’s “Hero of Hope Award” were the following:
The nomination from Elizabeth “Lizzie” Martinez RN/Nurse Navigator from Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin, NJ meant the world to me because Lizzie represents A Beacon of Hope to her oncology patients at SOMC on a daily basis. It’s been a pleasure and honor to partner with Lizzie to better assist our oncology patients.
The selection of being named a finalist by the Academy of Oncology Nurse and Patient Navigators was equally meaningful to me. This is a fraternity of amazing individuals that work tirelessly on behalf of the oncology patients and a group for which I have the utmost respect and appreciation. I witnessed their selfless acts of kindness and generosity of spirit during my own battle with cancer and continue to see those same selfless acts through the eyes of the patients of David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation.
The 3 other nominees: Bonnie Addario, Susan Leighton and Paul Karpinnen. You can still read and watch their videos by clicking on the link below but I will tell you that all 3 of them are Heroes! All 3 of their videos brought me to tears and I was blessed to spend some time with Susan and Paul over this past weekend. Unfortunately, Bonnie had a prior commitment to an event with her own organization in Philadelphia. Conquer Magazine: Meet the Nominees
During this process, I got to spend some time with Gwen Coverdale and Bruce James. Gwen was my initial contact and interviewed Lizzie and me for the video. Bruce was responsible for pictures and video. I consider both of them friends now and their quality of work speaks volumes about them as people.
Many may or may not know that my girlfriend Catherine Deely is a breast cancer survivor. She’s also one of the strongest and most compassionate women I’ve ever met. She’s an incredible support system for me and a tremendous advocate for DDBCF so it was especially rewarding to share this entire experience with her.
I cannot thank all of you enough who voted, shared and spread the word about the nomination and voting. A special thanks to my medical team and friends at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital for all your efforts in helping get the word out about the nomination and voting. You are all not only responsible for raising awareness for DDBCF throughout this process but also responsible for DDBCF receiving a $1,000.00 grant!
When my name was announced by Co-Founder of AONN Lillie Shockney RN as the Inaugural Hero of Hope recipient, my first inclination was, “Did I hear that correctly?” I was and still am humbled by the nomination and to be included with the 3 other amazing nominees. There were 10,000+ votes registered and am beyond grateful for the $1,000.00 grant to DDBCF which will go directly into the hands of a deserving family or two battling a cancer diagnosis. More than anything else, this nomination and award means “the little engine that could” known as DDBCF is being recognized on a national level for the “IMPACT” it’s having in the oncology community and specifically for its’ impact on patients and their families affected by a cancer diagnosis. This is a credit to our Board of Directors (Kim McCabe Manzella, Tim Hall, Dani Corso, Jill Elsasser, Kristin Panzone and Kelly Powers) who serve on a 100% volunteer basis and give 100% of their hearts; our generous and amazing sponsors who continually reach into their individual pockets and that of their businesses/organizations to support DDBCF; our selfless volunteers who give of their time and energy; our growing youth group Generation Dream and their parents; the newly formed Southern Regional High School student group and its’ teachers; Stockton University, Dr. Ai Zhang and students. Last but certainly first in the hearts and minds of all of us at DDBCF are the patients currently battling a cancer diagnosis and those brave souls we have lost to this deadly disease. This amazing group of courageous, strong and inspiring souls received that Hero of Hope Award this past Saturday!
A Note From David Caldarella, Co-Founder & Executive Director:
I was humbled and honored to hear that I was selected as 1 of 4 finalists for the 2015 Hero of Hope Award by the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators. This nomination is very special because it emanates from Oncology Nurses and Patient Navigators who recognized the critical work and mission of David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation. In particular, Elizabeth Martinez from Southern Ocean Medical Center who nominated me and who should be nominated herself! It’s very difficult to hear life and death struggles everyday but it’s a special person that rises above to help. Oncology nurses and patient navigators do that on a daily basis so to be recognized by that same group of amazing individuals is truly overwhelming! The recognition of being nominated is a confirmation for our Board of Directors, Sponsors, Individual Donors and Volunteers that we are making a difference in the lives of our families battling a cancer diagnosis.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Long Beach Island Resident One of Four
Nominees for National Survivorship Award
LONG BEACH ISLAND – A Long Beach Island man has been named one of four nominees nationwide for the Hero of Hope Patient Award given by the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+).
David Caldarella was diagnosed with head and neck cancer in April 2010. He learned his cancer was extremely aggressive and had already metastasized from his tonsils to the lymph nodes on the right side of his neck and down his throat.
“The news was upsetting on a number of levels,” says Caldarella. “I was in the best shape of my life and had never smoked. Beyond the physical, it hit me emotionally, socially, and financially. It literally changed my life.”
The next month he underwent a tonsillectomy and biopsy, a right neck dissection and transoral robotic surgery to remove the remaining tonsil and tumor. Chemo and radiation quickly followed.
“What got me through this was my family, friends, faith, the kindness of strangers, and the desire to create a legacy that would benefit others and make my nephew and nieces proud.”
That legacy took shape as David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation, a nonprofit organization providing financial assistance to people who are battling cancer and can’t afford day-to-day necessities.
“I thought about the foundation constantly,” he says. “It would be 2 or 3 in the morning, and I would be trying to figure out how we would fund it, who we would help, and what it is we would do.”
In November 2010, Caldarella received the “all clear” from his surgeon and spent the next two years growing his foundation, which required overseeing four annual fundraising events.
“By 2013, we reached a breaking point,” he explains. “We surpassed our initial goal to help one or two families a year almost immediately. By the time I went full-time and became a salaried employee of the foundation in 2014, we were helping more than 100 people from across New Jersey annually.”
To date, David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation has helped 400 families and has given more than $400,000 in assistance.
As one of the nominees for the Hero of Hope Patient Award, Caldarella’s story will be featured in the August issue of CONQUER: The Patient Voice Magazine.
Voting to select the winner is now open. The winner of the Hero of Hope Patient Award will be announced in early October at AONN’s sixth annual Navigation and Survivorship Conference in Atlanta. The winner will receive a plaque recognizing his/her contributions to the cancer community as well as a donation of $1,000 made to the charity of his/her choice.
About the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators
The Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators, Inc. (AONN+) is the largest national specialty organization dedicated to improving patient care and quality of life by defining, enhancing, and promoting the role of oncology nurse and patient navigators. The organization, which has more than 5,000 members, was founded in 2009 to provide a network for all professionals involved and interested in patient navigation and survivorship care services in order to better manage the complexities of the cancer treatment process. For more information visit www.aonnonline.org.About CONQUER: The Patient Voice Magazine:
CONQUER is the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators’ (AONN+) premier forum for patients with cancer. CONQUER features articles written by and for patients with cancer, survivors, nurse navigators, and other oncology team members. This magazine addresses the issues that patients, their family members, and caregivers face every day in an easy-to-read format. Issues include interviews with patients with cancer, information on access to care, and articles on lifestyle topics such as nutrition, stress management, personal finance, and legal and employer issues. CONQUER also features patient stories that are nominated for the AONN+ HERO OF HOPETM award, which will be presented at the AONN+ Annual Conference. All stories are compiled in a special issue of CONQUER at the end of the year. For more information visit www.conquer-magazine.com.
About David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation
David’s Dream and Believe Cancer Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that raises funds to provide financial assistance and services to families primarily in New Jersey affected by a cancer diagnosis. David Caldarella, Co-Founder and Stage IV cancer survivor, established David’s Dream and Believe Cancer Foundation in 2010. His journey of living through Stage IV cancer inspired him to dedicate his life to helping other individuals, affected by a cancer diagnosis. David spends most of his time being with these families and has been an amazing support person in all their lives. To date, the Foundation has assisted 325 patients in 4 years, and donated over $300,000 to families afflicted by cancer. Donations are used towards a multitude of services for the family battling a cancer diagnosis including financial assistance for medications, treatments, transportation, rent, mortgage and utility bills.