Organizational Values

So originally when writing this blog I had decided on an organization though Ohio State that I'm a member of - Starfish - but after reading some of the other blogs I decided to do something on a much grander scale, and an organization that I think most people don't know - the Dear Jack Foundation.

For those of you who have ever heard of the band Jack's Mannequin or Something Corporate, their lead singer, Andrew McMahon, who in fact happens to be one of my heroes, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphatic Leukemia.  He set out and documented (on video) every step - from diagnosis to remission. Then there was a documentary made out of it, called Dear Jack:

After his fight with leukemia Andrew McMahon created an organization to help raise awareness for all sorts of cancers - the Dear Jack Foundation. 


"Our [The Dear Jack Foundation] mission is to be a leader in raising awareness and supporting organizations and charities with the greatest need and highest potential for impact on young adult cancer patients. We specifically aim to find treatments as well as expand on quality of life initiatives, such as counseling for young adult patients and their families. This age group of 15 to 35 year old patients is in desperate need of research. Cancer is the number one disease killer of young adults and studies continually show that the survival rate has not improved as steadily as that of other age groups."


Andrew McMahon, with the help of Jack's Mannequin and Something Corporate go around and perform huge charity concerts and tours raising money for the Foundation which all eventually goes to cancer research and cancer patients.  The organization is non-profit at its finest with all of the employees being volunteers.  


It's an organization that has really inspired me to work harder for causes like his and to watch someone go through what he did and come back even stronger than ever really inspires me.


People are drawn to organizations that hold similar values as them - just like I did. And with an organization to help reinforce what you already believe in - our ability to help is limitless.