Dear Friends and Family- We are just over a week away from the big shave – Friday March 9 at the Northside K of C where I’ll be having my head shaved to raise funds for pediatric cancer research. First – a big thank you to all of you who have already made a contribution on my behalf – your support is greatly appreciated! Next – I’d like to share with you some information about childhood cancer and the ongoing research that is funded by donations to St. Baldrick’s Foundation, and why I feel so strongly about this cause. In the 1960s the chances of survival for a child diagnosed with cancer were 1 in 10, 10%. Currently the chances of survival are 4 out of 5, 80%. I’m not an expert, nor am I a scientist, but I look at those numbers and it tells me that research is saving and extending lives. And that, in a nutshell, is what this is all about – raising money to fund research to save and extend lives of innocent children that are stricken by this horrific disease. St. Baldrick’s Foundation is the second largest funder of childhood cancer research in the U.S., second only to the U.S. government. St. Baldrick’s is a volunteer driven organization with very low overhead and administrative expenses – this is truly a charity where the vast majority of donated money goes right back out the door in relatively short order to fund actual research. As I noted in my earlier message – St. Baldrick’s funds research at St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis, TN. St. Jude’s is where my friend Iron Man Michael Wanser received his final round of treatment and his leukemia samples are in the hands of researchers there. And I share Mike’s parents’ hopes that Mike’s fight wasn’t in vain, that there’s the potential for a breakthrough from studying his disease, and hopefully eventually sparing other families from a similar nightmare. Do you know any kids with cancer, or have you known any? Personally I wasn’t too tuned in to cancer until my friend asked me to participate in the St. Baldrick’s event three years ago. Since then I’ve become much more aware – and I suspect most of you have some connection to this disease. Personally I realized that I’ve had a cousin that passed from childhood cancer, I’ve had a client who’s son died from childhood brain cancer, my brother’s law partner Mark had childhood cancer in his optic nerve (he lost an eye), and then the very immediate connections from last year with my brother’s cousin Eli and Iron Man Mike’s courageous fight. This stuff strikes out of the blue with no rhyme or reason. One minute you’ve got a normal healthy child in your house, and the next minute you’ve got a diagnosis of cancer and a fight for your child’s life on your hands. I was recently looking over the participants for our upcoming head shaving event, and I’m always fascinated by the women that have their heads shaved at this event. One of them, Katie, has a 4 year old who lost both of his eyes to cancer. I have to admit – I didn’t get too far into her story because the tears started flowing pretty quickly as the details of their ordeal started to emerge. But these are the stories that inspire me to keep bugging you for money for this cause. I’m going to borrow some lines from Katie’s blog because I think the words from someone directly impacted by this disease are a tad more poignant than mine ever could be: “So why am I on about why cancer sucks? Well, this is a taste of how I feel about cancer. There is tons of scientific literature on why cancer sucks if you are interested. This is why people are always having walks, awareness events, fundraisers, etc. This is why I would shave my head to raise money for childhood cancer research. We need better diagnostic processes. We need better treatments. We need to fund research in order to achieve this.” The issue is real, the funds are needed for research, your contribution helps make a difference. Can you help me raise some funds so we can all be part of the solution? Thanks for considering it, and thanks again to those who have supported me – this year and the last two! Best, Art