The Wildflower Foundation Challenge-Increase the Impact of your Donation
Dear Supporters and Future Supporters,
I know many of your presently support the fight against this terrible disease amyloidosis, and I hope other will become new supporters.
Like me, you know the impact amyloidosis can have whether you are a patient or a caregiver. My husband, Bob, was diagnosed with kidney disease. He fought for years, went on dialysis and did everything right. In the early 2000s he received a kidney transplant and was doing well. Then he was diagnosed with amyloidosis. It was a debilitation and extremely painful. Through his doctors and his own research, he found the Amyloidosis Center at Boston University School of Medicine. We planned a trip to Boston in June 2005, but he died on 31 May 2005.
The Amyloidosis Center at Boston University School of Medicine is one of the largest and oldest centers in the world devoted to laboratory and clinical research on systemic amyloidosis. When the Center began as a small research program, directed by Dr. Alan S. Cohen, 50 years ago, the nature of amyloid diseases was poorly understood, and in the early days there were no treatments available. Drs. Martha Skinner and David Seldin had the vision to establish a multidisciplinary program involving clinicians and scientists across the Boston University Medical Campus, allowing the Center to make tremendous progress in our understand of these diseases and in diagnosis and treatment. And now, under the leadership of Dr. Vaishali Sanchorawala, the Center is entering an exciting new era of personalized and targeted therapies.
Through my foundation, The Wildflower Foundation, I have been supporting the Center’s groundbreaking research for many years. This year I want to increase my funding for the great plans already prepared by the Center.
I have committed a $1 milllion multiyear pledge to the Amyloidosis Center, but it is contingent on your support.
In order to encourage contributions to the Amyloidosis Center, I have made an initial gift of $400,000 to support research-and will continue to provide support over the coming three years up to $1 million. However, gifts are dependent on other donors joining with me to support the Center. New or increased gifts will be matched by the Wildflower Foundation through this matching challenge. So please give now and give generously to make this lifesaving work possible.
Gifts of all sizes are welcome and an envelope has been included in the newsletters for your convenience. If you have questions about making a gift, please contact BUSM’s assistant dean of development, Suzanne Maselli, at 617-358-9530, or smaselli@bu.edu. to make a secure gift online, please visit bu.edu/amyloid/donate.
Thank you in advance for your generosity.
Sincerely,
Christine Stiefel