We made a STAND Eli’s STAND against childhood cancer

Family and friends,  We wanted to take a moment and thank all of you for supporting the Eli Seth Matthews Leukemia Foundation, Inc. in honor and memory of our Brave Eli….    Eli’s big brother Austin and I(Paul) went to St. Louis, Missouri on September 30, 2011. We met with Dr. Todd Druley, M.D., Ph.D.  Dr. Druley gave us a tour of the hospital and shared some recent results with us. The money that has been raised was donated to his research to find a CURE!    Special thanks to Oxford Area High School , Bill Hammond’s Martial ArtsRK Environmental Services, Our Children Making Change, Robinson’s Furniture, Oxford Auto & Tire, and everyone that held an Eli & Alex’s Lemonade Event, or stopped by and supported one of our event’s in Eli’s memory.  Please continue to help us win this war!  No child should ever be told by their Mom and Dad that they have Leukemia (Cancer).  We will not stop until a cure is found, because Eli would want us to carry on this fight to find a cure, even though he cannot be here to do so.

Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine
October 3, 2011

RE: Research funding gift from the Eli Seth Matthews Leukemia Foundation, Inc.

Dear Mr. Matthews,

It was a distinct pleasure for me to meet you and your son, Austin, on Saturday, October 1st  at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. I, along with everyone else, was extremely touched by the courageous story you shared about your son, Eli. We are all so sorry for your loss. Clearly, Eli left a lasting impression on anyone and everyone who had the great fortune to meet him. What is equally awe-inspiring is the manner in which your family and your community have bonded around the tragic loss of Eli and worked to turn his memory into a positive force for improving the lives of children with leukemia and ultimately defeating this horrible disease.

With that said, I am truly humbled and honored at your gift of $30,000 from the Eli Seth Matthews Leukemia Foundation to support my genetic research on pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and the $5,687.65 in additional research support provided through the Eli Seth Matthews Leukemia Fund to be incorporated with my existing Alex’s Lemonade Stand “A” Award.

Given all that you and your family have been through and the efforts you have made to raise these funds, I am humbled that you have put your faith in the work that we are doing to better understand the genetic basis of pediatric leukemia. I really enjoyed having an opportunity to share a bit of our most recent work with you and Austin. I am very excited about our research and think we are at a critical time where recent advances in technology can reveal tremendous new discoveries in pediatric cancer, which can be turned directly into new, more focused, less toxic treatment strategies. This is our goal, and I know you share that goal as well. We will do our utmost to honor Eli’s memory and your faith in our endeavors.

Once again, I simply cannot thank you enough. Should you have any questions or simply want to catch up on the latest research progress, please do not hesitate to contact me. I will certainly inform you when new results arising from your generous gift are going to be presented or published.

 Warm regards,

Todd E. Druley, M.D., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Pediatric and Genetics

Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology and Oncology

Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology

Washington University School of Medicine
 

 

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