Yesterday, the Texas 4000 team made a visit to the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. As you may remember, M.D. Anderson is the cancer center that has received the funds from Texas 4000 fundraising for the past six years. We originally chose this research facility for its reputation as the leading cancer treatment center in the nation- possibly the world- and it happens to be located right in our backyard.
Having never been to the Texas Medical Center before, I was very excited to get to tour the facilities. I knew it would give us a more realistic picture of what we are working towards and it ended up being very moving and inspirational. Though our interaction with patients was minimal, we did see several children being treated for cancer, hear doctors who explained their research and the advancements treatment has made over the years, the cutting edge technology MDA employs, as well as some key differences between MDA and other typical hospitals in the United States.
The cancer center is HUGE. It felt more like an airport than a hospital. It was nicknamed "the pink palace of healing" for the color of the buildings many years ago when it was first built. After a tour of the campus, we watched a few riders from the 2009 team present their check for $295,000. If I understand correctly, the money T4K has donated over the past several years has been compiled into one large research fellowship, or the Texas 4000 professorship, where a MDA committee will be deciding where/to whom the money will be allotted. This year, I believe we will be deciding as a team which specific type of research (translational, basic, etc) or cancer (pediatric, young adult, adult, etc) we want our fundraising dollars to go towards.
I was touched by how many doctors, patients, and social workers knew who we were and praised our efforts. Some had tears in their eyes as they told us how much our organization meant to them and to the kids at MDA. Apparently, we really are messengers of hope.
We showed this video during a presentation to MDA and it is definitely worth watching! The footage is from 2008, and it gets me excited every time I see it. Enjoy!
Click Here: Texas 4000 Tribute Video
Please visit http://www.texas4000.org/give/give to find out how you can help.
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