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September 17, 2005
Help Find a Cure for Cancer: Vote for John O’Hurley Tuesday Night
A few months ago we lamented the loss our pal John O’Hurley sustained in the finals of "Dancing With the Stars," a ballroom dancing competition which aired on ABC-TV. Despite the controversial decision, John, as we noted, held his head high and was a class act.
The controversial ending has provoked a friendly rematch. It’s friendly, because both John and his competitor Kelly Monaco will be dancing for charity. John’s charity of choice is Golfers Against Cancer.
I’m involved with Golfers Against Cancer because of John, who introduced me to the remarkable guy who founded GAC, Bobby Jones (no, not that Bobby Jones). I met Bobby, a senior executive with BISYS Corporation, through John. Bobby, like John, is the kind of guy who, after you’ve known him for five minutes, you feel like you’ve got a lifelong friend.
Early on, John served as master of ceremonies for GAC’s fund raising dinners. When we held the inaugural dinner in Atlanta last year, John also served as our M.C. and auctioneer, and we had a tremendous evening. After matching grants, we raised $350,000 for cancer research from that dinner. The proceeds went to specific research projects we earmarked at Emory’s Winship Cancer Institute.
Our Second Annual GAC Atlanta Dinner for Cancer Research will be on Tuesday evening. Unfortunately, John will not be able to join us, because he’ll be dancing.
The good news, however, is that GAC will receive $62,500 from John’s efforts on the dance floor on Tuesday. To return a show of support for John, I’m asking you for your vote on Tuesday night. Even if you roll your eyes at the thought of voting for a contestant on a reality TV program, suspend your cynicism for a second and vote. Vote for John.
If you think my headline’s a little bold, consider this: Golfers Against Cancer is an all-volunteer organization. We don’t have any administrative bureaucracy. You don’t have to worry if you’re helping fund the executive director’s car allowance; we don’t even have an executive director. We’re just a bunch a volunteers who all have day jobs who raise money for cancer research on the side.
Moreover, we fund specific research projects at local, well-regarded cancer institutes. The GAC group in New York, for example, funded a study at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center which used a process involving genetically instructing human immune cells to recognize and kill cancer cells in mice. This successful project opened the door for clinical trials for patients which certain types of leukemias and lymphomas.
Quite simply, our mission is simple. We fund specific research projects which will speed the search for a solution to cancer, and we minimize administrative cost drag on the funds we raise.
So, if you would, please vote for John during or after his performance on Tuesday, September 20th at 8:30pm (EDT) on ABC. You’ll be given a phone number on the telecast to use, or you can vote online by followig this link. You’ll be able to vote during the show and up to one hour afterwards. If you haven't already registered on the ABC website, please try to do this before Tuesday night so you can logon and vote quickly. Up to 10¢ per call may be paid to GAC as well, so please pass this message on to others. If I get the phone number beforehand, I’ll pass it on here on Tidbits.
Remember: you only have the one hour after the performance to vote. The results will be announced during a September 22nd telecast.
For those of you motivated to do something more, here’s my deal. If you’ll send a check, made out to Golfers Against Cancer, for $250 or more, I’ll send you your choice of books I’ve recommended on Tidbits (see the righthand sidebar on the main page), or I’ll send you a copy of John’s new CD he just released with electric cellist Marston.
Your choice: read a great book, or listen to John’s terrific new CD. You deserve the premium (which I’ll finance; GAC won’t) if you decide to write such a check of support for our efforts to end the scourge of cancer. You can send a check, made out to Golfers Against Cancer, to my attention at our Atlanta office.
Whatever your choice of support might be, I and my volunteer friends at GAC sincerely appreciate it. More important than our appreciation, though, will be your helping hand for those who need a fighting chance to beat cancer.
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