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BCPMA IN
THE NEWS - PRESS RELEASE
Media Contacts:
Gina
Magee,
BCPMA Publicity Chairperson,
gina.magee@verizon.net
Pat Tallungan, CNCF President, 630-965-6391
Mark Dungan, CNCF Vice
President,
817-846-6085
BCPMA DONATES $5,000 TO
THE CHILDREN'S
NEUROBLASTOMA CANCER FOUNDATION
TORRANCE, CA (July 17, 2008) -- The Beach Cities Parents of
Multiples Association, Inc. (BCPMA), announced
today it has donated $5,000 to the
Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation (CNCF),
a Chicago-area non-profit
organization dedicated to finding a cure for
this deadly childhood cancer which has one of
the lowest survival rates. This is the first
major donation from the BCPMA, which is one of
the largest parents of multiples organizations
in California.
A member of the BCPMA, Matilda (Tilly) Dumaine, daughter of
Brian and Rachel Dumaine of Redondo Beach, is a
neuroblastoma survivor. Tilly, who is now five
years old, was diagnosed with
neuroblastoma at just under 2˝ years old. For
more than 14 months, she had a treatment regimen
that included chemotherapy, surgery, an
autologous stem cell transplant, radiation, and
immunotherapy treatments. The Dumaine family
just celebrated the two-year anniversary of
Tilly having achieved the status of "No Evident
Disease." The Dumaine family considers itself
fortunate beyond measure. By this time, many
neuroblastoma
families either lost their children or have
stood by helplessly as their children responded
minimally to treatment and were clearly losing
their battles.
BCPMA members were given the opportunity to vote which
charity should receive this donation, and CNCF
received the highest number of votes. Overall,
there were 14 charities from which to choose,
including Little Company of Mary Hospital,
Torrance Memorial Medical Center, Childrens
Hospital Los Angeles, Miller Children's
Hospital, and more. For a complete list of the
charities considered, please refer to the
attached document titled, "List of Organizations
for Charitable Donation." When polled as to why CNCF won out over the local charities, BCPMA
members indicated they wanted to see the money
go to an organization that is so dedicated to
helping Tilly and others like her recover from
this terrible disease.
CNCF is based in
Bloomingdale, IL, a west suburb of Chicago.
The money raised goes directly to fund
independent research in neuroblastoma. The
organization was founded by Pat Tallungan after
the death of her son several years ago.
Neuroblastoma is a common pediatric cancer but
doesn't garner as much attention as other
childhood cancers.
Neuroblastoma is the most common cancer found in
infants, with an incidence rate almost double
that of leukemia. There are approximately 650
cases of neuroblastoma diagnosed each year. The
majority of children are high risk at diagnosis
and their survival rate is approximately
30-percent. Through their Medical Advisory
Board, the CNCF selects promising and innovative
research studies to fund to hasten a cure for
children with neuroblastoma.
"Our family will always
remember how BCPMA gave us love and support
during our personal crisis. In the early days
of Tilly's hospitalization, their
‘meals-on-heels' service began to deliver
prepared dinners to us and continued to do so
for several weeks. This gift reduced the stress
I was feeling about caring for my husband and
other child while I was at the hospital with Tilly. There were many offers of help from
individual families in the club as well," stated
Rachel Dumaine, Tilly's mother.
Tilly's story, current updates, and results of her quarterly
CT and body scans are chronicled in a website at
www.caringbridge.org/visit/matildajade.
"In March Tilly and Isabel celebrated their fifth birthday
with a magical fairy party. Our family
celebrated the fact that Isabel still has the
most important person in her life by her side
and that they are both happy and healthy.
However, our terrifying reality is that the rate
of relapse for neuroblastoma survivors is
50-percent and relapse is considered incurable.
Most relapses occur within two years of
treatment's end, but there are many children who
have been disease free for four, six, or even 12
years, only to see the disease return seemingly
out of the blue. That is why we are so grateful
for this donation towards research to find a
cure for this disease," stated Rachel.
"Within the last two years, our
organization has increased membership by more
than 50-percent. With the added funds we've
received, we have been able to provide our
members with first-rate events, programs,
speakers, and support. I'm pleased our members
wanted to give back to an organization that is
so vital to keeping children afflicted with the
disease alive and free of cancer," stated Debbie
Goldberg, president of BCPMA.
"We are thrilled to receive this kindhearted donation from
the Beach Cities Parents of Multiples
Organization," said Patricia Tallungan,
President of the CNCF. "The $5,000 donation
will be used to fund research which will provide
for combination drugs in clinical trials and to
hopefully enroll more children into these
trials. Unfortunately so many children relapse
and it is important that they have as many
options as possible to continue to fight off the
disease and return to stable or improved
status." Tallungan also added, "Our goal
is to educate our society about this deadly
disease, help them understand it – and enlist
their support. The best way to accomplish
this is to help raise funds for research and
education -- awareness is the key in our
endeavor."
CNCF is a leading grassroots, non-profit
organization dedicated to finding a cure for
neuroblastoma cancer through research,
education, and awareness. CNCF was formed in
2000 by friends and family of Nick Tallungan
who, at age 10, lost his battle with
neuroblastoma. Comprised of volunteers and
parents of sick children, CNCF provides support
for families as well as funding for research to
find a cure for neuroblastoma. For more
information, please visit
www.nbhope.org.
BCPMA, which currently has more than 271 member families, was
established in 1991 as a non-profit organization
that supports parents of multiples (twins,
triplets, quadruplets, and more). BCPMA is a
chapter of the National Organization of Mothers
of Twins Clubs, Inc. (NOMOTC), and a member of
the Southern California Mothers of Twins Clubs,
Inc. (SCMOTC). For more information, please
visit
www.beachcitiesmultiples.org. The primary
purpose of BCPMA is to provide emotional,
social, and educational support on rearing
multiples, for parents and primary caregivers of
multiples living in or near the South Bay,
including Westchester, El Segundo, Manhattan
Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance,
Harbor City, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos
Verdes, Rolling Hills Estates, San Pedro,
Carson, Lomita, Hawthorne, Lawndale, and
Gardena.
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