Over the course of a year, the Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars rolls pennies, packages pastries and collects funds to donate to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
At its annual fall festival conference last month, the group presented OMRF with a check for $7,983 to fund cancer research. This represents the 40th consecutive year the organization has given to cancer research at OMRF. All told, they have raised more than $120,000 for the foundation.
“These women are absolutely driven in their efforts to raise money to fight cancer,” said Eileen Williams, OMRF senior director of development. “They are true believers in the cause, and their contributions have made a difference in our cancer research programs.”
At OMRF, dozens of researchers are using state-of-the-art technology to develop a better understanding of—and treatments for—the disease. Chief among those are Rheal Towner, Ph.D., and Robert Floyd, Ph.D., who have developed an experimental drug that offers the first real hope against the deadly brain tumors known as gliomas. And the work of Linda Thompson, Ph.D., helped create Oncovue, a one-time test that assesses a woman’s lifetime risk of developing breast cancer.
The Ladies Auxiliary counts more than 767,000 members nationwide, including 7,200 in Oklahoma. It has chapters in more than 80 Oklahoma cities and towns, including:
- Bartlesville
- El Reno
- Enid
- Lawton
- McAlester
- Woodward
The group consists of wives and relatives of veterans, as well as female veterans themselves. In addition to raising funds for cancer treatment and research, the Auxiliary awards scholarships through its Voice of Democracy Program and provides more than eight million hours of volunteer service in local communities.
“Since the 1960s, the Ladies Auxiliary has generously supported OMRF’s efforts to battle cancer,” said OMRF’s Thompson. “We couldn’t ask for better philanthropic partners.”
OMRF (omrf.org) is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institute dedicated to understanding and developing more effective treatments for human disease. Chartered in 1946, its scientists focus on such critical research areas as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, lupus and cardiovascular disease.
