STAND UP TO CANCER ANNOUNCES MORE THAN $100 MILLION RAISED
IN UNPRECEDENTED EFFORT TO END CANCER’S REIGN
AS A LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH
Historic September 5th Fundraising Special Aired on
ABC, CBS and NBC, and Seen in Over 170 Countries
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Entertainment Industry, Corporate and Organizational Donors, Philanthropists, Volunteer Teams and the General Public Contributed Funds for Scientific “Dream Teams” that Will Collaborate on Cancer Research
SEPTEMBER 7, 2008 – LOS ANGELES, CA: Stand Up To Cancer today announced that from its launch on May 28, 2008, through September 5, 2008’s historic simultaneous commercial-free telecast, the initiative has raised more than $100 million to accelerate ground-breaking research and bring new therapies to patients more quickly. This unprecedented collaboration among the major television networks, entertainment industry executives, over 100 celebrities, and prominent leaders in cancer research and patient advocacy is designed to end cancer’s reign as a leading cause of death.
“On behalf of the Stand Up To Cancer leadership team, we are tremendously grateful to everyone who contributed to make this historic event a success,” said Lisa Paulsen, President & CEO of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, the 501(c)(3) charitable organization for the television and film business that serves as the fiduciary behind Stand Up To Cancer. “This money will go directly to funding the research programs necessary to defeat this insidious disease. This remarkable achievement was made possible by the generosity of ABC, CBS and NBC; performers who volunteered their time to participate in the broadcast; viewers who phoned in; the substantial contributions from corporations, organizations and philanthropists; and the thousands of people who donated through our website. The Stand Up To Cancer movement has only just begun. Together, we can make the difference in this fight.”
Stand Up To Cancer's leadership team includes Laura Ziskin, who was executive producer of the September 5th broadcast and a cancer survivor; Katie Couric; the Entertainment Industry Foundation, represented by Board of Directors Chairperson Sherry Lansing (who is also Founder of the Sherry Lansing Foundation), CEO Lisa Paulsen, and Vice President Kathleen Lobb; the Noreen Fraser Foundation (NFF) and its executives Noreen Fraser, who is also a cancer survivor, Rusty Robertson and Sue Schwartz also of the Robertson Schwartz Agency (Noreen’s husband Woody Fraser is also an NFF founder); and nonprofit executive Ellen Ziffren (whose husband, noted L.A. attorney Ken Ziffren, played a pivotal role in bringing together the three networks for the fundraising special) . In addition to Laura Ziskin, the leadership team were co-producers of the broadcast; all were responsible for securing the participation of Stand Up To Cancer’s major donors.
Stand Up To Cancer’s major contributors include the country’s single largest individual supporter of cancer research, Sidney Kimmel, who pledged $25 million during the telecast, as well as lead donor Major League Baseball who made a $10 million commitment. Other major supporters include Amgen, AARP, Bloomberg Philanthropies, GlaxoSmithKline, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Revlon, Wallis Annenberg & The Annenberg Foundation, Alliance for Global Good, Lee Jeans, New York Giants, Milken Family Foundation, Philips Electronics, Saks Fifth Avenue, Steve Tisch, Stonyfield Farm, The Island Def Jam Music Group and many others. In addition to ABC, CBS and NBC, SU2C major media partners include AOL, Condé Nast Media Group, eBay Inc., Facebook, Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Hearst Corporation, Los Angeles Times, Meredith Corporation, The New York Times Company, Time Inc., and WebMD.
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) will conduct expert scientific review of the research projects and administer funds raised through the initiative under the direction of a Scientific Advisory Committee. Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT chairs the Committee, which includes highly accomplished clinical investigators, senior laboratory researchers and physician-scientists.
Stand Up To Cancer is a charitable services fund of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization.
