(Baton Rouge) -- In a year that saw south Louisiana still struggling to find its way back from the impact of the great storm disasters that impacted our region so deeply, community donors were exceptionally generous and made gifts totaling $955,826.59 to Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center during the Center’s 2006 Annual Giving Campaign. The amount includes philanthropic gifts from 100% of the Center’s employees who make financial gifts to directly benefit the patients as well as 100% participation by members of the Center’s board of directors.
“The success of this year’s Annual Giving Campaign is due to the focused leadership of the campaign cabinet and the dedicated efforts of all the campaign volunteers,” said Paul R. Thompson, CitiGroup Smith Barney, chairman of the 2006 campaign. Nearly 90 community leaders participated as volunteers. “The community responded with exceptional generosity. I am particularly pleased that over 85% of last year’s Leadership Donors ($1,000 or more) renewed their gifts. This is an extraordinarily high figure and speaks to the strong connection our supporters feel toward Mary Bird Perkins.” Thompson also said, “In addition to continued funding for cancer support services for patients and their families, awareness and education programs and community cancer screenings, the funds raised will support the research arm of the C.A.R.E. Network with partial funding for the academic medical physics partnership formed between Mary Bird Perkins and LSU in 2004 to develop new and better treatment options for cancer patients.”
Annual support from the community provides funding for Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center’s C.A.R.E. Network. Mary Bird Perkins established the C.A.R.E. Network to reduce cancer incidence and mortality in southeast Louisiana and to improve the quality of life for those affected by cancer. The Center’s mobile medical clinic, the Early Bird, provided more than 100 screening events for approximately 4,500 people in 2006, bringing life-saving early detection to people who do not have health insurance and could otherwise not afford it – including those displaced by Hurricane Katrina and now living in the Center’s 15-parish service area.
2006 Annual Giving Campaign Volunteers
Cabinet LeadershipPaul R.Thompson, CitiGroup Smith Barney, campaign chairman
Jim McIlwain, Lamar Advertising, campaign vice chair
Frank McArthur, McArthur-Sanchez Associates, immediate past chair
Blanchard Sanchez, McArthur-Sanchez Associates, major gifts chair
Gordon LeBlanc, Stonehenge Corp., major gifts vice chair
Shelley Mockler, Mockler Beverage-Budweiser, individual division co-chair
Gary Sligar, Baton Rouge Coca-Cola (retired), individual division co-chair
Wynn White, Wynn L. White Consulting Engineers, individual division vice chair
Jo Ann Templet Hamilton, Rubicon, LLC, industry chair
Owen Cope, Entergy, industry vice chair
Jerry Vascocu, Iberia Bank, corporate chair
Tory Johnson, Hancock Bank, corporate vice chair
Jean Champagne, Krebs, LaSalle, LeMieux Consultants, Inc., Northshore chair
Randy Kinchen, Parish National Bank, Northshore vice chair
Donna Taylor, Stirling Properties, Florida Parishes chair
In addition to the campaign cabinet, volunteer fundraising solicitors serving during the campaign were: Corporate Division, Jonathan Batarseh, Michael Fruge’, Clint McCullough, Doug Nelson, Will Owens, Missy Pace, Jim Purgerson, Janet Olsen, Ragan Richard, Robert Schneckenburger, Greg Scott, Christina Streb, and Robert Woosley; Major Gifts Division, Tee Brown, John Burke, Louis Curet, Omer Davis, David Field, Clay Flournoy, Bob Greer, Lee Griffin, Jerry Jolly, Richard Lipsey, Lee McLaurin, Bill Peters, Mike Robinson, and Chuck Schwing; Industry Division, Jobie L. Templet, Sharon Turner, Laurie Williams; Individual Division, Jeff Gould, Mack Gregorie, Jim Haslitt, Toni Hayes, Jeff Kleinpeter, Clayton Lester, Susan Lipsey, Bobby McCall, Hillar Moore, Bill O’Quin, Lance Paddock, and Paul T. Thompson, Northshore, Cynthia Bailey, Will Bailey, Matt Bennett, Stan Dameron, Rick Danielson, Alison Fisse, Lauren Hebert, Trey Hodgins, Ray Jenkins, C.J. Ladner, Joe Luquet, Marty Mayer, Darryl Mierl, Paul Morgan, Todd Reeves, Daniel Terrell, and Randy Waesche; Florida Parishes, Glenn Bartels, Heather Damitio, Gerri Delatte, Alexis Ducorbier, Christy Gatlin, Shawn Hubbard, Bart Leader, Phil Livingston, Mike Lofaso, Lillian Maurin, Lloyd Spring, and Frank Vallot.
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About the Center:Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center is the only independent, community-owned, nonprofit cancer treatment, education and research facility in the state. Serving a 15-parish region in southeast Louisiana, it provides state of the art radiation therapy to all patients, regardless of ability to pay. The Center’s C.A.R.E. (Cancer Support Services, Awareness and Education, Research and Early Detection) Network provides hundreds of free programs for patients, healthcare professionals and the public every year. The academic medical physics partnership formed between MBPCC and LSU in 2004 is funded in part by the research arm of the C.A.R.E. Network. The Center has facilities in Baton Rouge, Covington and Hammond.
About the C.A.R.E. Network:The C.A.R.E. Network was established in 2002 to reduce cancer incidence and mortality in southeast Louisiana and to improve the quality of life for those affected by cancer. Funded by gifts from the community, it provides cancer support services, awareness and education programs, research, and early detection through cancer screenings.