News Story Union-Tribune, September 17, 2004
Friends Fund Equipment to Aid Cancer Research
CARMEL VALLEY -- Asking for donations of Cabernet for a wine-
tasting fund-raiser was nothing new for Maryjo Highland and Eva Borgstrom.
The volunteers have spent 15 years organizing various charity events.
But this cause hit close to their hearts.
The wine-tasting soiree next month is the first event of Hope for a
Cure Foundation, a nonprofit organization that funds research to help
prevent cancer.
The group was founded by Highland, Borgstrom and three friends: Olga
Fisher, Dee Jerge and Marianne Nakamura. Fisher and Nakamura are cancer
survivors. Highland, Borgstrom and Jerge have had family members and
close friends die from the disease.
"
We've all been touched by cancer," Borgstrom said. "We wanted
to do something about it, and we wanted to control where the money is
going."
This month they are going to local wine shops, asking for contributions.
The event will feature donated wines, poured by Meritage Wine Market
and Orfila Winery, and Italian-style appetizers by Firenze Trattoria
restaurant.
The money raised will be used to purchase a vacuum blotter to aid
Jodie Chin and Floyd Romesberg in their research at Scripps Research
Institute.
They are working to prevent cancer by identifying DNA sequences and
cell mutation proteins.
The group of women who formed Hope for a Cure in February is tackling
one project every three months. In June, the women bought a miotic
inverted microscope with epifluorescence for Per Borgstrom, Eva's
husband, who
is a cancer researcher at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in Torrey
Pines. The equipment cost about $10,000 after Highland negotiated
$700 off the
price.
To raise the money, the women mailed 200 letters to family members
and friends. They reached their goal within three months.
"
People are looking for a cause where they know where the money is going," Fisher
said. "Ours goes directly to a piece of equipment.
"
People trust what we're doing. They know us, they know our backgrounds,
they know what we're doing and why we're doing it. The fact that we have
a passion makes a difference."
Hope for a Cure has minimal overhead costs. Highland's home is
the organization's headquarters. The group members split the
fees for
filing papers with government agencies. They use their home computers
and
buy their own stamps. Their accountant is working for free. The
biggest expense
has been setting up a Web site.
"
Our goal is to beat this thing before it ever spreads through the body," Fisher
said.
