Barry Davis's
Pan-Massachusetts Challenge
to benefit the
JIMMY FUND
The PMC Beneficiaries
The "Jimmy"
In August of 1998, I had the privilege of having a photograph taken with "Jimmy", the person that came to be the face of the Jimmy Fund.
Dr. Sydney Farber
Dr. Sydney Farber, pictured above, performed pioneering research and treatment while at the Children's cancer Hospital in the 1940's.
The Jimmy Fund
The Jimmy Fund began in 1948 when the Variety Club of New England (now known as the Variety Children's Charity of New England) and the Boston Braves baseball team joined forces to help a 12 year-old cancer patient named "Jimmy". Jimmy was a patient of Dr Sydney Farber, a cancer researcher and physician at the Childrens Cancer Hospital in Boston.
This particular Jimmy (Dr. Farber called all his male patients Jimmy) loved to watch his favorite baseball team, the Boston Braves, at home. But when he was at the hospital receiving treatment, there was no television set. So, on May 22, 1948, members of the Braves stood by Jimmy's hospital bed as Jimmy spoke to a nation wide audience via the Ralph Edwards "Truth or Consequences" radio broadcast in a fund raising effort to buy Jimmy a television set for his hospital room. Contributions poured in from everywhere and spearheaded an effort of charitable giving for the Jimmy Fund that continues today.
Despite clues over the years to Jimmy's fate and identity, everyone at Dana-Farber assumed that Jimmy had died, because the cure rates for pediatric cancer were so low when Jimmy was treated. While never intentionally concealing his identity as "Jimmy", this patient of Dr. Farber remained anonymous until 1998, the 50th anniversary of that special radio broadcast. Einor Gustafson and farmer and truck driver from Maine was "welcomed back" to the Dana Farber as a symbol of hope and encouragement from an era where he was cured at a time when very few were cured.
Einor died at age 65 of a stroke on Jan. 21, 2001 but his memory continues to provide hope for children and adults with cancer. His inspirational story lives on through all the fund raising activities for the Jimmy Fund, including the Pan-Mass Challenge. Today, the Jimmy Fund and the Dana Farber are the beneficiaries of the efforts of the thousands of bicyclist of the Pan-Mass Challenge. The PMC accounts for over 50% of all fund raising dollars for the Jimmy Fund.
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
In 1947, the late Dr. Sidney Farber founded the Children's Cancer Research Foundation that dedicated itself to providing children with cancer a state-of-the-art treatment center. In 1969, the Research Foundation expanded its program to patients of all ages and in 1974 became known as the Sydney Farber Cancer Center. Additional long-term support of the Charles A. Dana Foundation was acknowledged in 1983 by incorporating the facility under its present name, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Today, the Dana-Farber is internationally renowned for its blending of research and clinical excellence. The Institute's expertise in these two arms of the fight to eradicate cancer uniquely positions it to bring novel therapies that prove beneficial and safe in the laboratory setting into clinical use.
Along with the financial support that the PMC provides, the Dana-Farber is also supported by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The Institute is also a principal teaching affilliate of the Harvard Medical School.
