Charity Spotlight

Please appreciate the work and challenges—but also enjoy the successes!—of our Member Charities as much as we do.

• Listen to NPR's April 2009 piece on the IAN--Interactive Autism Network, which was funded by Autism Speaks.

• Read the Forbes February 11, 2009 piece Cancer Miracles which highlights the contributions of several scientists at the Cancer Research Institute. You can also read the response to the article by Jill O-Donnell Tormey, Executive Director of the Cancer Research Institute in New York. 

• Check out the Feburary 2009 (pdf) report Spending to Survive: Cancer Patients Confront Holes in the Health Insurance System by the American Cancer Society and the Kaiser Family Foundation.

• See who attended amfAR's February 2009 gala in New York City by watching the New York Times video coverage of the event.

• Read about how health charities—including the JDRF, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society—are addressing the slow pace of the emergence of new disease treatments by getting involved in drug research in the February 2009 Wall Street Journal piece Disease Charities Pursue Cures by Investing in Drug Start-Ups.

• July 4, 2009 marks the seventieth anniversary of Lou Gehrig's "luckiest man" speech. Read the February 2009 piece in the New York Times "Baseball to Focus Attention on Gehrig's Disease" to find out how the event will be commemorated by the ALS Association and others. 
• In December 2008, Easter Seals released a report “Living with Autism” in cooperation with the Autism Society of America. This report contains the findings of a study involving interviews with more than 2,500 parents and Easter Seals hopes it will raise awareness of the life-long services families living with autism need—including school to work transitions, employment support, residential and community support, and financial planning. 
• Has a cure been found for AIDS? Read the November 2008 Wall Street Journal article about a patient at Charite Medical University in Germany who is believed to have been functionally cured of HIV and how our member charity amFAR has contributed to the scientific validation of this case.

• Have you ever wondered why there seem to be so many different health charities that appear to be working to solve the same health problems?  Different charities often have different stances on important policy issues. Learn more by reading the November 2008 New York Times article “Kidney Disease Takes a Growing Toll” on differences between the National Kidney Foundation and the American Association of Kidney Patients. Please visit our Member Charities page to link to the home pages of our member charities so that you can learn more about each of our charities' missions and policies.