TBBCF Timeline 2015 - 2018. Here we go again … Regroup, Reinvent, Restructure.
By SANDY MANISCALCO
When TBBCF Executive Director, Mary DeVizia, resigned during the first quarter of 2015, the TBBCF Executive Committee met to discuss creating interim plans for staffing operations and development and outreach activities for the upcoming year and for readjusting goals and objectives for 2015, the year marking the 10th anniversary walk. Mary left us with big shoes to fill.
2015 Highlights and Top Stories
From 2015 through 2018, members of the Executive Committee at the time included Patti Burmahl, John LaMattina, Stacey Gualtieri, Pat Newborg, and Sandy Maniscalco, Board VP. At that time, Sandy agreed to take on an interim staff role as Acting Executive Director, and Pat Newborg stepped into the position of Acting Operations Director. Howie Brensilver stepped in to fill the VP position in 2015. These volunteer leaders stayed active during that period, moving in and out of executive positions on the Board Executive Committee in an effort to afford continuity. Other Board members at that time also volunteered to fill interim roles. The Board also welcomed Max Logan and Pamela Morris Watt. It was an ‘all hands-on deck’ endeavor.
During that transition, many other present and past core volunteers stepped up to help run the Foundation. For example, in 2015 Pat Newborg and past walk chairs Lisa Carroll and Ellen Swercewski agreed to chair the 10th Anniversary Walk. Read Recent changes at TBBCF
The year began with the announcement of three 2015 grant recipients.
At the same time the BOD and the SAB began working together to devise a plan to make the grant process more transparent. Until then the relationship between the Foundation and our grant recipients and their institutions was primarily virtual. That changed in 2015 when TBBCF enhanced the publicizing of our research grant program successes via newsletters, social media and the website. For more details, read It’s not just a grant, it’s a relationship!. In addition to making several site visits, the BOD also hosted a research symposium in partnership with Lawrence and Memorial Hospital’s Cancer Center in Waterford.
On May 12, 2015, TBBCF held its 10th Annual Meeting at Flanders Fish Market. Click here for a short summary. Click here for the annual meeting presentation.
Throughout the year local media professionals and supporters, Ann Baldelli of The Day newspaper and Eric Parker of CT WFSB Channel 3 News, continued to help TBBCF spread the word.
In June 2015, thanks to a lead from Ann Baldelli, we introduced our readers to our first breast cancer survivor series following The Day’s writer, Melissa Babcock, as she chronicled her breast cancer journey through a series of monthly articles. Read It looks suspicious Breast Cancer at 31. Melissa went on to be named 2016 Honorary Walk Chair.
The 10th anniversary walk was held on October 3, 2015 at the Eugene O’Neill Theater. Eric Parker, Closing Ceremonies Keynote Speaker, shared that in doing his research for his keynote speech he learned that young researchers across the country were talking about TBBCF’s research grant program. Click here to read about the milestone event. In 2015, TBBCF raised over $357K!!
10th Anniversary Walk Across SECT Walk Photo Collection
That bottom line was supported by 47 Events and Promotions supporters who raised more than $90,000 for TBBCF. Over the course of that year there were 29 events, 13 promotions and 5 walk team fundraisers. Those numbers were a notable increase over the 2014 figures. Read It takes a village Click here for a snapshot for 2015. Overall, 2015 was a very good year!!
At the end of 2015 we contracted with a social media and communications professional, Elissa Bass, to help us develop our 2016 Communications Plan. Our website administrator continued to be Christine Rathbun, Vizen Studies in North Stonington.
2016 Highlights and Top Stories
The headline for 2016 was TBBCF celebrating its 10th birthday! - keeping Logan's Promise since February 6, 2006 - with over $3.4 million donation dollars directed to breast cancer research.
We celebrated our 10th birthday in style, broadened our social media reach, welcomed a new board director, visited two of our 2016 grant recipients, kicked off our 2016 sponsorship campaign, and participated in our first 2016 event.
The January 2016 Newsletter is filled with stories about our research program including the announcement of the four 2016 grant recipients, TBBCF past grant recipients’ publications and an update on our Scientific Advisory Board. Read the Jan 2016 Newsletter.
The March/April Newsletter covered TBBCF’s 10th birthday party featuring Keynote Speaker, Priscilla Brastianos, MD, 2012 TBBCF grant recipient. We were thrilled to get front page coverage in The Day in a front page article written by Ann Baldelli. TBBCF Facebook followers can view the 10th birthday party photos here. On April 4, 2016, Eric Parker, WFSB Channel 3, presented a special medical report on Dr. Brastianos’ research at Mass General Hospital in Boston. Click here to watch the special medical report.
The July 2016 Newsletter covered the announcement of the 2016 Honorary Walk Chair and the highlights from the 11th Annual Meeting. Click here to view the newsletter.
Melissa Babcock Johnson was named 2016 Honorary Walk Chair – Beginning in 2015, she wrote a year-long series of articles on her cancer journey in 2015. Click here to watch a 30-minute ION television interview with Melissa and Sandy Maniscalco.
The TBBCF 11th Annual Meeting was held on June 14 at Filomena's Café in Waterford. It was hosted and sponsored by the TBBCF Board. TBBCF resurrected the 27th Mile Club, which had been retired at the 2011 Annual Meeting. TBBCF presented the 2016 awards to Ann Baldelli and Eric Parker. 2015 grant recipient, Dr. Eugen Dhimolea, was on hand, and provided an update on his TBBCF- funded research.
In September, we highlighted two breast cancer survivors, Aimee Reed, survivor and triathlete (1983-2018) and founding member, Marcie Brensilver. Aimee was TBBCF’s Greater Westerly Breast Cancer Honoree, and Marcie Brensilver was awarded the 2016 Athena Award by the Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce. In 2015, click here to view the September newsletter and here to view the October news update.
In the December 2016 Newsletter we placed a spotlight on longtime supporter, Charter Oak Federal Credit Union’s Inaugural Matching Program, we highlighted our sponsors and introduced publicizing our top event and promotion donors on our website. Our feature stories covered research grant outreach, listing of all 2016 events and promotions and a report on our social media campaign. Click here to view the December newsletter.
Grant Research Outreach: As mentioned earlier, in 2015 TBBCF embarked on a campaign to publicize our research grant program successes via site visits, newsletters, social media and the website. In the December 2016 newsletter, we summarize in words and photos that effort. For more details, read It’s not just a grant, it’s a relationship!
Social media: In the 10th anniversary year, there were several content ‘tentpoles’: The TBBCF’s 10th Birthday Party, Survivor Stories, 2016 Annual Meeting, and media coverage of TBBCF (articles in The Day and on WFSB-TV news). Click here to view our 2016 social media report card
Reoccurring events and promotions: Click here to view the full 2016 events and promotions listing.
In 2016 TBBCF raised over $320K and supported four research grants. Through marketing, communication and outreach in 2015 and 2016 we were able to capitalize on hosting two milestone events - the 10thAnnual Walk (2015) and the 10th TBBCF birthday party (2016) and further establish ourselves as a relevant local non-profit.
2017 Highlights and Top Stories
In 2015, Mary DeVizia left us with a fresh work ethic focused on building a strong and younger staff and volunteer base. Couple that with coming off a high from our 2015 10th anniversary walk and our 2016 year-long celebration of ten years as an up-and-coming local non-profit, TBBCF was positioned to move forward with a renewed energy thanks to strong volunteer leadership led by the Board of Directors, Patricia Newborg, Acting Operations Director, and Sandy Maniscalco, Acting Development and Outreach Director. The day-to-day operations and outreach effectiveness took us to a stronger base of operation. Click here for a look at the 2016-17 all-volunteer work roster.
A major 2017 goal was achieved when TBBCF successfully moved to a noticeable younger demographic. There was no better example of that than the paths followed by Kathleen (Kate) Davis, Pamela (Pam) Morris Watt and Gabrielle (Gabby) Tudisca.
From 2015 to present day, Kate moved from marathoner to core administrative volunteer, to TBBCF Sapphire Sponsor, to TBBCF walk chair and operations director. Today she serves as TBBCF’s Operations Director.
Pam, diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, quickly moved through the ranks as an annual top fundraiser, walk team captain, TBBCF grants administrator, a TBBCF Sapphire Sponsor, and a board director. Today Pam currently serves as the board VP and Events and Promotions Coordinator.
Gabby, a 2017 college graduate, began her career in the spring of 2017 when she was hired as a summer intern to co-found TBBCF’s credit intern program and to become our technical and social media advisor quickly moving to the TBBCF’s resident technology expert and finally becoming the youngest individual named to the TBBCF Board of Directors. Gabby is also a TBBCF Sapphire Sponsor. Today Gabby continues to serve on the Board of Directors and continues to be one of our key technical advisors.
Many stories can be found tracking Kate, Pam and Gabby’s journey on the News tab of the website at https://tbbcf.org/news/.
2017 was another busy news year!
The January 2017 Newsletter was filled with news about our research program including the announcement of the three 2017 grant recipients - Drs. Li and Parsons are from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Dr. Meyer is from the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Read announcement. Also featured in this newsletter is an update on grant research by founding SAB member, Dr. Mike Morin. Read article.
Feature articles in the March/April Newsletter highlighted a new Diamond sponsor, a press release announcement of a TBBCF award from Mass General Hospital and the 100 Women Who Care grant for $4,600 that would go toward sponsorship to support seasonal summer intern salaries. TBBCF also took the opportunity to announce the 2017 Annual Meeting Keynote Speaker and 2014 grant recipient, Erin W. Hofstatter, MD.
The June 2017 Newsletter was filled with many news articles and updates including visiting 2017 grant recipients, featuring grant recipients at the annual meeting, continuing to publicize TBBCF-supported research publications by TBBCF grant recipients and expanding the Foundation presence as a viable source of breast cancer research funding via social media and communication efforts. Nearly 100 guests attended TBBCF’s 12th Annual Meeting held on May 2, 2017 at the Flanders Fish Market Restaurant in East Lyme. Keynote Speaker, Erin Hofstatter, MD, began her talk by telling attendees how her 2014 grant has allowed her to pursue her research. Another highlight of the evening was the presentation of the 27th Mile Club awards to Jeremy Han, Old Lyme Country Club Women’s Golf and Old Saybrook Schools students. And finally, the announcement of Gabrielle Tudisca selected as a summer intern sponsored by a grant from 100 Women Who Care in Deep River, CT.
Summer news leading up to the October 7, 2017 Walk Across SECT mostly highlighted training walk news, walker and volunteer stories and the many individual, team and group upcoming events and promotions. The October 2017 Upcoming Events gives a flavor of the breadth of support from our community and across the state.
The November 2017 Walk Update included walk photos and a walk video as well as a walk write-up by Ellen Swercewski. Read Ellen’s Walk story here. Finally, we ended the year with the November/December News Update announcement of the final events and promotions of the year as well as a reminder about the deadline for the Charter Oak Credit Union Matching Gift Program. Read update.
2017 was another good year. TBBCF raised $343,802 with 2017 Walk proceeds of $246,046 and events promotions and general donations at $95,736.
Reflections
During 2017 we lost several key supporters (volunteers, fundraisers and walkers) including Jean Lewis (1950-2017), Pat Meringolo (1942-2017), Barbara O’Connell (1947-2017), and Pat Esposito (1922-2017).
2018 Highlights and Top Stories
2018 kicked off with the announcement of the 2018 grant recipients. Read 2018 Announce Grant Recipients. The 2018 awardees included Dr. Arko Dasgupta (Fred Hutchison Cancer Center), Dr. Sheng Sun (Massachusetts General Hospital), and Dr. Adrienne Gropper Waks (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute). Also featured in this special edition was a letter from Dr. John LaMattina, TBBCF Board President and Scientific Advisory Board Co-chair.
Another TBBCF business change that occurred during 2018 is that Patricia (Pat) Newborg transitioned out of her role as Acting Director of Operations with Kathleen Davis joining TBBCF staff as the Operations Director and Walk Chair. Click here to read “Former air traffic controller brings calm expertise to TBBCF”.
The feature story in the 2018 May News Update 2018 was the annual meeting held on May 8 at Flanders Fish Market and Restaurant. Click here for 2018 Annual Meeting presentation.
The 27th Mile Club 2017 awardees were introduced. The Great Neck Country Club Women's Association, who raised more than $35,000 for TBBCF, and Pamela Morris Watt, who has volunteered hundreds of hours at TBBCF and who, with her Pink Posse, has raised more than $75,000, were honored. TBBCF co-founder, Sandy Maniscalco and TBBCF president, John LaMattina, presented the awards. Click here to read the award commendations.
Also in the news was an update on the college internship program established in 2017. Read article.
The 2018 June News Update focused on TBBCF’s communications theme for the year; Hope! We followed stories on the nightly news and via our social media channels for news of breakthroughs. Earlier that year, Eric Parker of WFSB Channel 3, put the spotlight on Dr. Erin Hofstatter, a Yale oncologist and 2014 grant recipient in a nightly news medical report. We began this month by introducing 2018 Honorary Walk Chair, Johanna D'Addario. Read article. The June feature story was written by Johanna. Click here to read her story.
We also featured interviews with William Stanley, Vice President of Development & Community Relations, L+M Hospital and 12-year Foundation sponsor, and Jay Gionet, top fundraiser, math teacher and former TBBCF board member.
We published two news updates in October 2018: the October News Update featured an interview with our 2018 Honorary Walk Chair, Johanna D'Addario. Click here to read her story, “A walk to remember”.
October 2018 Events/Promotions focused on results for two of the 2018 fundraisers. Click here to read the update.
In the final newsletter issue for 2018 (December 2018 News Update), our top stories focused on the Foundation's grant process and placed a spotlight on the incredible generosity of two of our top supporters.
2018 was a good year. TBBCF raised $335,744 with Walk proceeds at $216,404 and events, promotions and general donations at $119,340.
Reflection
During 2017, Aimee Reed (1983-2018), marathoner, blogger and the Greater Westerly 2016 Breast Cancer Awareness Honoree wrote a blog for the TBBCF website documenting her journey living with stage IV/metastatic (inflammatory, triple negative, BRCA2+) breast cancer. She always tried to find a reason to smile, and she never gave up HOPE. Sadly, on August 30, 2018, Aimee passed away. The Day Staff Writer reflected on Aimee’s passing in his article She Inspired Us All.
Aimee has not been forgotten. Since her passing a number of individuals and groups have continued to fundraise for TBBCF in Aimee’s honor including the 2024 annual WAVES Softball Memorial Tournament and the 2023 Bespoke Beer’d Collaboration. These two events alone have resulted in over $30K in donation dollars.