ja_mageia

Valentine’s Day Weekend's Cupid's Undie Run a HUGE Success; Raises $300,000+ for Children’s Tumor Foundation!

Putting the “hilarity” back in “charity,” on February 11, 2012 nearly 3,000 runners nationwide stripped down to their undies and braved the frigid February temps to raise money and awareness for a rather “undie-scussed” issue, neurofibromatosis (NF). Benefiting the Children’s Tumor Foundation, this effort raised more than $300,000 for medical research into treatments for NF. 

Washington D.C.’s wildly popular Cupid’s Undie Run expanded its jaw-dropping charity race to New York, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Denver, and Seattle. Even with five first-year cities, the event sold out in almost every market. It seems Cupid’s has struck a nerve! 

Locals in each city lined the streets to catch the hundreds of scantily-clad joggers racing along Pennsylvania Ave in D.C., 15th Street in NYC, and the waterfront in Seattle, among other locales. 

Cupid’s story is simple: friends Brendan Hanrahan, Chad Leathers, and Bobby GIll founded the event two years ago in D.C., inspired by Leathers’ youngest brother Drew who lives with schwannomatosis.  The team wanted to keep the "fun" in fundraising, and there is no doubt that they have succeeded. Their crazy idea has not only turned heads, but turned a local event into a national movement. 

"What’s so amazing about Cupid’s,” commented co-founder Chad Leathers of the Chidren's Tumor Foundation, “is the level of passion exhibited from runners, spectators, donors, and our volunteer directors. It is truly awe inspiring!” 

Voted "Best Winter Event” in D.C. by The Washington Post in 2011, Cupid’s will surely be vying for similar honors nationwide.

For more information on the event, registration, or making a tax-deductible donation, please visit www.cupidsundierun.com.  For sponsorship or media inquiries, please contact Bobby Gill at bobby@cupidsundierun.com.  To see more photos, please click here.

Cupid's Undie Run starting line in NYC  [Photo credit: Daniel Pagel - DSPstudios.org]

Drew Leathers, Matt Stinchcomb, Jon Stinchcomb, and friends at Cupid's Undie Run Atlanta

No. 4 eBay Motors/Children’s Tumor Foundation/Racing4Research Porsche GT3 Perseveres to the Finish In the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona

Largest campaign launch to date with more than $600,000 donated to Children’s Tumor Foundation during landmark race

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (January 29, 2012) – The No. 4 eBay Motors/Children’s Tumor Foundation/Racing4Research Porsche GT3 team had two goals this weekend: one was to complete the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona, and the other was to raise funding for research and awareness for neurofibromatosis (NF) through the Racing4Research program. Team drivers Ryan Eversley, Justin Bell, Daniel Graeff and Ron Yarab contributed to both efforts during the endurance classic, with Bell driving the car at the end of the race and more than $600,000 raised through Racing4Research and the Children’s Tumor Foundation (CTF).

The team moved off to a quick start with Eversley climbing through the field in the opening hours of the race and Bell running as high as sixth before an unwanted love tap created some issues.

“I had a great time in the car, except when I got tapped, sat there for three laps and was mildly aggravated, but the car felt really good,” Bell said. “We were in sixth place when we got spun. We knew we weren’t going to be the fastest, but it would have been kind of cool to be in the top 10 and we had the pace to achieve that.”

Donations were also on pace this weekend for the Children’s Tumor Foundation/Racing4Research program that increases awareness for NF and raises funds for research to find a cure for the debilitating disease. The program’s fifth-year campaign began at the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona and has the double support of leading online companies eBay Motors and Quicken Loans Inc. The Rolex 24 Racing4Research program is the annual kickoff event for CTF fundraising. Donations can still be made at www.racing4research.org.

The No. 4 eBay Motors/Racing4Research campaign will also be featured later this year in a second season episode of The World’s Fastest Car Show Hosted by Justin Bell, a unique web, mobile and app-accessible show available only at eBay Motors and on eBay Mobile.

“We had a great start to the CTF fundraising campaign, well over $600,000 was raised during the race,” said Jill Beck, Director of the Racing4Research program for the Children’s Tumor Foundation.

“We don’t even know the totals because we have the on-going eBay auctions. Plus donations are still coming in and I’m sure they’ll keep coming in past the race. We’re thrilled. We’ve been so proud to work with eBay Motors and Quicken Loans, they’ve been fantastic partners.”

Graeff was honored to be part of the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona and to represent CTF for the annual fundraising launch.

“This weekend is very hard to put into words, it is very bittersweet,” Graeff said. “For 24 hours every year for what is now the last five years, we’ve been a moment of joy and hope for CTF children and their families. We’ve raised more money here than we have in years before because of the exposure through terrific sponsors like eBay Motors and Quicken Loans.”

After taking the checkered flag with the rest of the competitors, the No. 4 team celebrated their successes in completing the Golden Anniversary event and also launching the 2012 Racing4Research campaign to raise money for the Children’s Tumor Foundation.

“Having Justin Bell on board and SPEED cooperating with us and showing us love on air and through our webcast was great,” Beck said. “I really couldn’t be more proud of what we accomplished this year. I’m just happy that we were able to finish the race, and take the checkered flag for the kids.”

About the Children's Tumor Foundation and Racing4Research
Developed by the Children’s Tumor Foundation, the Racing4Research (R4R) program utilizes competitive, professional auto racing as a vehicle to increase awareness of neurofibromatosis and raise funds for research through corporate sponsorship, personal donations, and individual fundraising by NF Heroes: children and adults from around the country who live with neurofibromatosis. NF affects one in every 3,000 children, more than cystic fibrosis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and Huntington’s disease combined, and can lead to a wide variety of complications, including blindness, bone abnormalities, cancer, deafness, disfigurement, learning disabilities and excruciating and disabling pain. The Racing4Research program offers children and families living with the disorder a uniquely empowering weekend, and has raised over $1.5 million dollars since its inception five years ago. Donations can be made at www.racing4research.org.

An article in this week's Time magazine 'Check your Charity' highlights parameters you should look for if considering supporting a medical research charity or foundation. Issues highlighted include - what percentage of the funds raised actually go to medical research programs?  Is the charity or foundation monitoring outcome metrics to demonstrate progress and success? Children's Tumor Foundation has already demonstrated fiscal success through our maintained 4 Star Charity Navigator rating and we received a mention in the New York Times last December in reference to wise charitable investments.  Now further recognition has come from our metrics of success. In December 2010 the Children's Tumor Foundation was invited by to join Mr. Mike Milken's  FasterCures group TRAIN (The Research Acceleration and Innovation Network). The FasterCures initiative is focused on bringing business acumen to medical foundations, having them set and live up to metrics, and to place foundations as the central pivot of research progress in the foundation/government/industry triangle.  The FasterCures TRAIN is a select group of foundations such as the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and Michael J Fox Foundation that have demonstrated innovative approaches to advancing research progress as well as developing successful approaches to monitoring the efficacy of our research programs.  This week's Time article highlights the value of TRAIN, in the words of FasterCures Executive Director Margaret Anderson, "those that are willing to change want to learn from other groups ... and believe in 'Let's make it as efficient as possible.'"
The Children's Tumor Foundation is delighted to be among the select foundations in TRAIN and will continue to strive to make our neurofibromatosis research programs as effective and accountable as possible.

In an article primarily about Charity Navigator titled To Help Donors Choose, Web Site Alters How It Sized Up Charities, our Foundation was mentioned for our innovative approach to financial reporting by adopting the SEC 10K format for our Annual Financial Report.  

We began using this format several years ago to fill the gap in reporting discussed in the article. Our Annual Reports, IRS 990s and the Annual Financial Reports highlighted in the article can all be viewed in the About Us section of our website.

Adopting this format has not only increased our accountability and communication to supporters, but has helped our Board and staff focus on how we design our programs and measure results. 

John