The Cristian Rivera Foundation October 2016 Newsletter

Cristian Rivera Foundation
October 2016 Newsletter

It has been quite a while since our last newsletter, but we are back and better than ever! We hope everyone had a good October! We are looking forward to the rest of this beautiful fall and to working together in November to pull off the 8th Annual Cristian Rivera Foundation’s Celebrity Fundraising Gala. We are working hard to plan a beautiful evening dedicated to the children who suffered and are suffering from DIPG.

There are quite a few updates to give. First, Dr. Mark Souweidane treated his final patient in Phase I clinical trial of convection-enhanced delivery (CED) for DIPG. The trial, which enrolled 31 patients over the last 4 years, was to test the safety of CED as a means to fight the DIPG tumor directly. You can read more from Dr. Souweidane Weill Cornell Brain and Spine blog, here. In more good news, Lisha got her latest MRI results in and her results were excellent: stable with no growth! Lisha is the living proof that the work of the Cristian Rivera Foundation in supporting Dr. Souweidane and his team is valuable and making great strides in finding a cure for DIPG.

Many of you remember Allen. If you don’t, Allen was an 8 year old boy who was diagnosed with DIPG and had one wish-to meet his favorite Power Ranger.  The Cristian Rivera Foundation and The Little Kernel was able to send Allen and his family to California to fulfill his wish of meeting the Blue Power Ranger, his favorite one! But, it is with heavy hearts that we are reminded of the severe reality of DIPG because Allen passed away on October 9th. Our prayers and thoughts are with Allen and his family during this time.

As you know, the 8th Annual Cristian Rivera Foundation’s Celebrity Fundraising Gala is Wednesday, November 30th at the Broad Street Ballroom starting at 6 PM. Tickets are almost sold out, but sponsorships and ads to be featured in our program are still available for purchase. We are still seeking live and silent auction items. If you, or someone you know, would like to donate an item or an experience please email info@cristianriverafoundation.org so we can send you the Auction Donation Form.

To date, the Cristian Rivera Foundation has donated more than $700,000 to research of Dr. Mark Souweidane of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Director of the Weill Cornell Medical College Pediatric Brain and Spine Center and families of children currently fighting DIPG. Our goal is to hit the mark of one million dollars donated in 2017. Consider making a donation today and at the gala. Consider making your donation a monthly donation. All contributions are tax-deductible and fund critical DIPG research and support the children and their families during their fight.

We will start sending updates about the Gala soon. We are so excited to see everyone on Wednesday, November 30th!

Sincerely
The Cristian Rivera Foundation

John “Gungie” Rivera
(Founder of The Cristian Rivera Foundation & “Forever Cristian’s Daddy”)

Board of Directors of the Cristian Rivera Foundation:
Andy Epstein, Darlene Rodriguez and Craig Serra.

Committee Members of the Cristian Rivera Foundation:
Aldo Marin, Alex Garcia, Carlos Colon, Carlos Yepez, Dennis Rodriguez, Dr. Manuel A. Moran, Elis Pacheco, Fernando Ferrer, Kenan Thompsona, Luis Guzman,
Meiling Macias Toro, Miriam Colon, Nirav Patel, Robert Vazquez, Rafael Toro, Ramon E. Javier, Steve Cox, Tony Ferrara and Vito Bruno

Committee Friends of the Cristian Rivera Foundation:
Ben Velazquez, Carlos Nazario, Dean Feratovic, Edward Caban, Funk Flex, Jerry Chaparro,
J.I. Starr, Little Louie Vega, Mark Rosner, Modesto Lacen, Pablo Diaz, Paul Pristavec,
Robert Dominguez, Steven Rodas, Teddy “Tedsmooth” Mendez, Victor Martinez,
and William Pla

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