Sale of Mother’s Day tribute cards will aid cancer research

By Bethany Tang
Daily Bruin Contributor

Giving a Mother’s Day card from UCLA’s Jonsson
Cancer Center Foundation will do more than make mom happy ““
it could save lives.

In it’s fourth year, “In Honor of Mothers,”
the foundation’s Mother Day’s program is sending
tribute cards to mothers, or anyone else you specify, with every
$10 donation toward the center’s cancer research.

The deadline to order a card to ensure delivery by May 14
““ originally April 28 ““ was extended to May 5.

“People are looking for a more meaningful way to pay
tribute than just flowers and a gift,” said Libby Huebner a
spokeswoman for Jonsson’s Cancer Center Foundation.

Last year “In Honors of Mothers” made $50,000, and
with this year’s drive, the Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation
is hoping to raise even more.

The proceeds from the card will help the more than 300
researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
““ one of only 35 institutions designated as
“comprehensive” by the National Cancer Institute
““ in their efforts to improve the quality of life for
cancer-sufferers and find a cure.

The front of the card is a photograph taken by a cancer survivor
of trees forming a canopy over a country road with sunlight shining
through the trees.

“The light in the trees gave her hope while she was
recovering.” said Sheila McDaniels, director of special gifts
at the Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation.

Inside the card is information on the Jonsson Cancer Center
Foundation and information about Nancy Rose, the photographer. Rose
is a UCLA alumna and former teacher from Rancho Palos Verdes, who
suffered from endometrial cancer, a cancer which affects the lining
of the uterus.

While recovering, she took the photograph in Rome, New York.
Rose has been cancer-free for five years and was asked to
contribute a photograph for the Mother’s Day tribute card.
Also inside the card is a message explaining the significance of
Rose’s photograph.

For the second year in a row, the Greater Los Angeles New Car
Association is sponsoring the tribute, paying for all the printing
and distribution costs of the card.

“Our primary goal is to help our members out, and
community outreach is a way to help them live a better life,”
Charlie Gill, executive director of the Association said.

The Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation also has a year-round
tribute card program. These tribute cards can be sent for any
occasion.

The tribute cards make about $225,000 per year and are very
popular Huebner said.

“It is a wonderful way to recognize someone special in
your life, and make a difference in the war against cancer,”
Anne Cote, executive director of the Jonsson Cancer Foundation,
said in a statement.

To order a Mother’s Day tribute card, call UCLA’s
Jonsson Cancer Center Mother’s Day hotline at (310)
825-2500.