Our Donor Advised Fund Donors help us save lives, advance research, and empower people. Read their stories and learn why they support our mission.
Jay and Lisa Park
GO2 for Lung Cancer supporters since 2014
Fremont, CA
My husband, Jay, and I have known Joan and Ronnie Fong for about 15 years. My daughter and their middle son, Teddy, were friends from middle school. Through our children’s school activities, we became close acquaintances, and then I served with Joan on an annual school fundraiser, the Crabfeed, for which Joan was the Lead Chairwoman. This is where I learned firsthand what a dynamo Joan was as a leader, friend, and loving parent. Her talent as a business woman was undeniable and the joy she got out of serving others radiated through her brilliant smile. Her energy and enthusiasm was infectious.
I remember the day we learned of Joan’s diagnosis in 2013. It was a difficult day for us. About a week later, we visited Joan and Ronnie at their home and prayed over her and Jay also shared his knowledge of the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation (ALCF) and that perhaps this would be a great source of direction and HOPE for the ensuing battle.
To step back a bit further in time, Jay had been supporting the former ALCF through their annual golf tournaments and silent auctions since around 2011-12. So by the time we learned of Joan’s diagnosis he was well-informed of their services, resources and success stories. Lung cancer had taken too many of Jay’s family relatives and we were starting to learn of other friends and relatives around us that were being diagnosed with lung cancer. Lung cancer was becoming too common and hitting closer and closer to home.
Through Joan and Ronnie’s journey and the lovingly way they shared their life compressed, we were in awe of their honesty, perseverance, and their dedication to sharing and educating the rest of us of the importance of early detection. We firmly believe that GO2 for Lung Cancer helped extend Joan’s beautiful life so that she could see her sons graduate from high school and West Point.
Years ago we established a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) with Schwab Charitable to help disperse and manage our charitable donations. We set up a DAF in the first place to ensure we always had money set aside for the charities and missions we believed in. Giving through a DAF has become a foolproof and very simple way to enjoy and interact with staff of GO2 for Lung Cancer instead of worrying about the mechanics of giving a gift.
We are grateful to have the resources to help advance research in lung cancer. Together with Ronnie and others we have committed funds to finding innovative ways to advance early detection of lung cancer, as we know that offers the best chance of survival. Through this contribution, GO2 for Lung Cancer will be able to continue their pursuit of early detection and save lives.
Jana Brownell
Chairman, The Kirlin Company
GO2 for Lung Cancer supporter since 2001
My mom was diagnosed with NSCLC in 2001. At the time of my mom’s startling and unimaginable diagnosis we were focused on my dad, who had been dealing with a few health problems of his own. I needed to take the lead for my mom and for our family.
My background training in biotechnology, healthcare lighting and women’s health, made me the natural caregiver for her, and every waking moment after that, I dedicated myself to providing her the best of care utilizing the latest advancements in lung cancer treatment. She passed away two years later, and I was left with a hole in my heart and binders and binders of information.
I found GO2 for Lung Cancer in my online pursuit of information for lung cancer. It was the staff’s understanding, their compassion and their drive that led me to make that first donation in 2001. But it is their continued unrelenting support since then, as numerous friends and colleagues have been diagnosed with lung cancer that has brought me back to supporting GO2’s mission and programs with gifts from my Donor Advised Fund (DAF).
In 2010, I established my family’s DAF to keep all of our nonprofit donations in one place and well- funded. As chairman and business owner, time is always of the essence and the accuracy and simplicity of sending grants via DAF has been very helpful to me and to the recipients of our contributions.
When I talk with the staff at the GO2 for Lung Cancer as well as my friends who they are helping, I am confident that support through my DAF is critical to changing the future of this disease. It is my fervent hope that the world will enjoy a doubling of survival rates within the next five years!
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