A Gastric Celebration

It’s been a while since my last blog post, but it’s not because of a lack of activity surrounding the Gastric Cancer Fund! Last Saturday night, we held our first fundraising gala in the bay area. “A Gastric Celebration” was an amazing night of great wine, fantastic food and wonderful people coming together to raise money and increase awareness for gastric cancer.

Since it was our first major event, we were cautiously optimistic regarding attendees, sponsors, etc, but the entire experience far exceeded all expectations. We were originally hoping for around 120 people but two weeks before the event we were forced to close registration as we had reached our venue maximum of 150 people. At $150 per person, attendees made a significant financial commitment to our cause, and I am incredibly grateful to all those who attended for their generosity and support.

From everyone I talked to, people had a fantastic time. It was certainly a raucous crowd! The beautiful setting at Fogarty Winery, high above the bay area in Woodside, CA set the tone for a beautiful night. We were so fortunately to have Next Food Network Star Finalists Hans Rueffert and Michael Thomas both travel into town to conduct a fantastic Paella cooking demonstration and tasting. As many of you know, Hans is a fellow gastric cancer survivor and GCF board member. Hans and Michael worked the large and loud crowd with amazing grace. I can’t believe their humongous Paella was completely gone before dinner started!

Dinner was provided by Thomas John Events, and guests enjoyed a scrumptious 3 course meal. After dinner, we had a few presentations about our organization and goals. In addition to my overview, Dr. James Ford reviewed our research objectives and provided insight into some of the recent progress made against gastric cancer. Rob Salmon, Executive Vice President of Field Operations at NetApp, my company and a huge support of our efforts, spoke about NetApp’s commitment to helping GCF fight this disease.

In total, the event raised over $40,000 for gastric cancer research and educated 150 people on this little known disease that is killing far too many of our loved ones every year. We’ve build a growing base of support in the bay area that will hopefully only grow over the years.

There are so many people to thank for helping make this event a success. First, our corporate sponsors – Yahoo!, NetApp, G2 and Capital Guardian Trust – all made significant financial contributions to support our efforts. Patricia Gallagher was our first major financial supporter of the event, and allowed us to underwrite much of the night’s costs. Ross Kemp and Arleen Gallagher were instrumental in the planning and overall execution of the evening. Jackie Parr and Wendy Seymour were fantastic in the chaos of running our registration table and silent auction. And of course Hans and Michael for traveling from Atlanta and San Diego, respectively, just to entertain and educate us.

For your enjoyment, I’ve posted several pictures of the evening on our Facebook page. Thanks to all that were able to attend. We look forward to seeing you all next year!

In health,

JP