Joanne Pang Foundation News

Umbilical Cord Blood Banking

2009-04-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends and Supporters:

Greetings!!

UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD BANKING
The Joanne Pang Foundation is pleased to announce the completion of a report titled “Umbilical Cord Blood Banking (From Yesterday’s Medical Waste to Today’s Medical Miracle)” in support of the establishment of the Northern California Cord Blood Bank (NCUBB) at the UCSF Children’s Hospital.

This brief overview with about 30 pages, which summaries the progress of umbilical cord blood banking in the past two decades, would help walk you through it in a simplified and readable format while not missing all key critical clinical aspects and potential medical, social, and economic benefits of this life-saving therapeutic treatment.

I would like to acknowledge the contribution from the JPF medical board, especially Dr. Morton Cowen of the UCSF Children’s Hospital for his extensive and in-depth review. The support from the JPF board of directors is also deeply appreciated.

The uses of the lifesaving stems cells in umbilical cord blood have been increasingly playing a critical role in treating life threatening diseases and many disorders. JPF is humble to be part of this evolution to help the needy patients for a chance at life.

AB52 UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD COLLECTION PROGRAM
Assembly Bill 52, introduced by Assembly Member Portantino and coauthored by Assembly Members Block, Blumenfield, Buchanan, and Price, is in a critical phase in the next one month. Whether it would survive the Appropriations Committee will depend on your support. If becoming a law, it would support the umbilical cord blood banking in California and ensure a chance of life-saving transplant for many patients, especially from various ethnic communities and mixed races, for many decades to come.

Please go to the links in the previous JPF update in Joe’s blog, email to all members of the Appropriations Committee, and register your support. For your convenience, Lisa Napoli, a JPF board member, has drafted a generic letter for you to voice your support of AB52. Please feel free to edit or modify it if necessary.

JPF is proud to be one of the support organizations for this bill.

WALK’ N RUN FOR KIDS AND CAMP OKIZU
A fundraisng letter from Prof. Michael Amylon of Stanford University on behalf of the Okizu Foundation is attached for your review. Prof. Amylon is a member of the JPF medical board. Providing patient assistance and family support are both one of the goals of the JPF. JPF will support these activities and I would like to request for your support as well.

Witnessing the struggles of many little children at the transplant unit was an unforgettable experience for me. It was like being in a war zone fighting for survival. I was also amazed at the willingness of the patents giving up everything just to be together with their little ones. Parents made these sacrifices readily no matter if they would do so for just weeks or months. For as long as there is even only a glimpse of hope, they would fight on to keep their little ones.

To support children with cancer and their families, please visit the following link:
http://www.active.com/donate/OkizuFoundation/drmike

Thank you very much for the help!!

Joseph

AB-52 "Umbilical Cord Blood Collection Program"

2009-03-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends and Supporters:

The Joanne Pang Foundation is pleased to lend its support to legislation pending in the California State Assembly which aims to increase public cord blood banking.

This bill “Umbilical Cord Blood Collection Program,” referred to as AB-52, would raise the fee for certified birth certificates by $2. This modest increase would generate $3 million per year and support California's pioneering Umbilical Cord Blood Program. This legislation dovetails with the Foundation's long-standing interest in saving lives by increasing the number of cord blood donors. A non-controversial source of stem cells, cord blood is a lifesaving gift we cannot afford to continue to throw away.

Assemblyman Anthony Portantino has sponsored a bill which just passed the Assembly Health Committee and will soon be coming before Appropriations for consideration. On behalf of the Foundation's board of directors, I encourage you to write to individual members of the Appropriations Committee (see link below with embedded email addresses) to express your support of AB-52.

http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/newcomframeset.asp?committee=43

As you are aware, cord blood has the capacity to heal more than 70 blood-related diseases. Traditionally discarded as biological waste, cord blood is now seen as providing medical miracles. The Joanne Pang Foundation seeks to increase the public cord blood donor pool, especially to benefit ethnic and racial minorities who are currently poorly represented in the national registry. The Foundation has been actively engaged in building awareness and capacity for public banking.

This bill helps provide much-needed funding for cord blood collection at no cost to the donor mother, a goal we strongly support. Ultimately, we hope that this new source of state money can be directed in part to the Northern California Umbilical Cord Blood Bank at UCSF Children's Hospital.

We hope you will take a few moments to write to these state legislators to let them know you back this bill. Additionally, you may wish to write to the Majority Whip Fiona Ma who is District 12's representative.

Her email is: Assemblymember.Ma@assembly.ca.gov

Another available method to comment on a bill in the Assembly or Senate is through this link:

http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/acsframeset2text.htm

Thank you for your help!

Sincerely,

Joseph

$10K Challenge Fund to JPF

2009-03-03T19:52:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends:

Greetings!!

$10K CHALLENGE FUND TO JPF
We received a generous challenge grant via a donor advised fund at the Schwab Charitable Fund last month. Currently, in respect of the donor’s intention, this grant is placed in a restricted account with the Foundation.

The good news is that this challenge grant, as if a red envelope in celebration of the New Year 2009, has arrived at the Foundation even before we work on matching this particular fund. It shows that the donor values the potential impact of this life-saving NCUBB project and has the confidence that the supporters of the Joanne Pang Foundation will be able to magnify this grant exponentially.

Individual contributions at the $50, $100, $200 or $500 level will help us redeem this grant and transfer it to a general account for the establishment of the NCUBB project.

While many of us are hurting financially in the midst of this economic storm, it would be more devastating to the patients and their families. Let’s join hands in hands in this journey of faith, hope, and love to help them overcome the adversaries.

UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD BANKING
We are currently working on a report titled Umbilical Cord Blood Banking (From Yesterday’s Medical Waste to Today’s Medical Miracle) in support of the establishment of NCUBB at the UCSF Children’s Hospital. It would be ready for distribution shortly. If you would like to have a copy, please contact Lisa Napoli at Lisa@joannepang.org.

For many of you who are still unfamiliar with the potential impact of this medical miracle, this brief overview with about 30 pages, which summaries the progress of umbilical cord blood banking in the past two decades, would help walk you through it in a simplified and readable format while not missing all key critical clinical aspects and potential social benefits of this life-saving therapeutic treatment.

May God bless you and give you peace in the midst of this challenging economic doldrums!!

Joseph

A Memorable Red Kite Gala

2008-12-31T19:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends:

Wishing you all Happy New Year and a Smooth Sailing through 2009!!

Approximately 250 people attended the first annual Red Kite Gala last month. The evening was co-hosted by Jana Katsuyama, reporter of KTVU Channel 2 News, and Scott Hildula, president of the Joanne Pang Foundation. The highlights of the evening were the Life Saver Award to Dr. Jordan Wilbur for his lifetime contribution in pediatric cancer treatment, and the presentation of an advocacy film titled “One Child, One Cord, and Two Lives,” which was co-illustrated by Kimberley Jones, Eric, Dr. Morton Cowan, and Brian Bender.

I was speechless and deeply touched by the warm support from everyone for this NCUBB project at the gala. Truly, the benefits of umbilical cord blood therapeutic treatment for leukemia and other cancers are indisputable. However, the need for a nonprofit and public umbilical cord blood bank in Northern California is long overdue. If it were God’s intention that Joanne be a messenger of this terrible disease, leukemia, she certainly had done her part.

We plan to consult with the key hospital officials in the next few months to see if we could first start this life-saving project in the first half of 2009 as a collection site-a logical step before a full-blown cord blood bank is put in place. The testing and the storage of each cord blood unit would be managed by other reputable cord blood banks. In light of the current economic doldrums, we believe that this intermediate step would permit us to quickly help expand the umbilical cord blood registries to be available worldwide to all patients in searching for a life-saving cord blood transplantation.

Finally, on behalf of all JPF board members, I would like to express our wholehearted appreciation to the honorary gala chairs, planning committee chairs, auction donors, and attendees for joining this “Journey of Hope” and providing unwavering support for the patients struggling with cancer, and their loving families.

Blessings,

Joe.

Annual Public Joanne Pang Foundation Meeting & Red Kite Gala

2008-10-29T19:27:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends:

Greetings!!

ANNUAL PUBLIC JOANNE PANG FOUNDATION MEETING
Annual Public Joanne Pang Foundation Meeting is scheduled for Saturday, November 15, 2:00-4:00pm. The meeting is to be held at the Lower Church of St Cecilia Parish, 2555 17th Ave, San Francisco, CA 94116.

Meeting is open to the public to scrutinize our accounting procedures and our accomplishments for the year. Refreshment will be provided. Please contact Scott Hildula at scott@joannepang.org if you need additional information.

RED KITE GALA
The Journey of Hope Red Kite Gala is to be held at the United Irish Cultural Center, 2700 45th Avenue (at Sloat Boulevard, near San Francisco Zoo) on Saturday, November 22.

Funds raised from the event will support the establishment of the Northern California Umbilical Cord Blood Bank at UCSF Children’s Hospital. Dr. Jordan Wilbur of Cancer Hope will be honored for his decades of work saving cancer-stricken children and adults with the first annual "Life Saver Award."

We truly need your participation and help support the patients in need of life-saving transplant to overcome many grave diseases. If you haven’t received the invitation package in the mail within the past week, please accept my apology and we could have misplaced your contact information. We would be glad to mail you one if you could kindly contact Sally Brien Holper at sally@joannepang.org. Thanks.

Cheers,

Joe.

A Journey of Hope

2008-10-01T12:32:00.000-07:00

RED KITE GALA HONORARY CHAIRS
The JPF is honored to announce the addition of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senator Dianne Feinstein to the list of the Red Kite Gala Honorary Chairs. The addition of these important members of the political community and strong support from the public as well as medical community further demonstrates the commitment to a public, non-profit umbilical cord blood bank in Northern California.

With the ethnic diversity found in the Bay Area, it is feasible that NCUBB (Northern California Umbilical Cord Blood Bank) could offer every eligible patient a chance at a life-saving transplant using the delivered placenta and umbilical cord. The advantages of using umbilical cord blood could be summarized as follows:

• A rich source of stem cells
• Less stringent matching criteria (For a bone marrow transplant, a minimum of 5/6 match is a must. For a cord blood transplant, a low 3/6 match would work)
• Less risk of graft vs. host disease (GVHD)
• Less risk of viral infections (baby stem cells are less infected with various viruses)
• Easily available within 72 hours (if the cord blood unit is already stored in the cord blood bank)
• Collected non-invasively

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The JPF is pleased to receive Red Kite Flyer level corporate sponsorship from Scott Hildula of the RedUmbrella Group and Gregory Porter of the Silverman, Krantz & Porter accountancy corporation. Scott Hildua and Gregory Porter are both members of the JPF board. Red Kite Flyer level – $2500+ sponsorship includes a table of 10, preferred seating, a full page ad in the event program and recognition on the Joanne Pang Foundation website.

In addition, the JPF is pleased to receive Partners level institutional support ($10K or higher) from Isabel Chiu of the En-Yong Foundation. Isabel Chiu is the founder of American Cancer Society-California Chinese Unit. Institutional donors will be proudly recognized in, but not limited to, a custom-designed plaque. The plaque will be displayed on the wall within the facilities of the NCUBB in perpetuity or as long as it is in operational.

If you wish to join the “journey of hope”, help us distribute the Red Kite brochures, and invite your friends and employers to support the NCUBB project, please feel free to contact Sally Brien Holper at sally@joannepang.org.

What Cancer cannot do-

It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot suppress memories.
It cannot silence courage.

Blessings,

Joe Pang

Corporate Sponsorship Needed for the RedKite Gala

2008-08-25T18:51:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends:

Wishing you a blissful summer!!

REDKITE GALA
The JPF is hosting the first annual Red Kite Gala fundraising dinner on Saturday, November 22, 2008 at the Irish Cultural Center in San Francisco. Proceeds will fund the Northern California Umbilical Cord Blood Bank. We have enlisted support from the following community and medical leaders.

Red Kite Gala Honorary Chairs:
Congressman Dan Lungren
Congresswoman Jackie Speier
Senator Leland Y. Yee, Ph.D.
Assemblywoman Fiona Ma
San Francisco Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier
San Francisco Supervisor Carmen Chu
San Francisco Supervisor Sean Elsbernd
Morton Cowan, M.D., UCSF, Children’s Hospital
Mitchell Katz, M.D., Director, San Francisco Public Health Department
Michael Amylon, M.D., Stanford University
Joanne Kurtzberg, M.D., Duke Medical Center
Jordan Wilbur, M.D., Cancer Hope
Rev. Msgr. Michael Harriman, Pastor, St. Cecilia Parish

We are asking for support from corporations, foundations and organizations to help raise $2.5 M for this NCUBB project. Please help us by asking your employers for sponsorship or matching grants for this event. Please help us turn the biological medical waste-placenta and umbilical cord in the San Francisco Bay Area into a miracle of life-saving therapeutic treatment for many patients with serious diseases in Northern California and worldwide. Umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants have been increasingly recognized as an effective treatment option for cancer, immune deficiencies and genetic disorders, etc, in the 21st century.

HADLEY HOPE FUND NEEDED TO SAVE PEYTON AND KAYLA
The Hadley family drove down from the state of Oregon and met with me in San Francisco on Saturday, August 9. Two of their three children are affected with Niemann-Pick Type C disease, a neurodegenerative illness in nature. It is similar to Alzheimer's disease in children. For additional information, please visit their website at www.hadleyhope.com.

The symptoms for Peyton, their eldest child at the age of 11, began two and a half years ago, and it took almost two years to receive a diagnosis. Peyton, once an early reader and talker, began cognitive decline, weight loss, and now speaks very slowly. Kayla, a lovely girl, is also sadly diagnosed with this disease. I could sympathize with their parents, Bryan and Laura, as it is agonizing and devastating to watch the children degenerating slowly to their end-point. According to recent research, they have found that umbilical cord blood stem cell transplantation may possibly be one therapy toward a cure. A cord blood experiment will be conducted in NP-C mice in the United States in the next couple of months that will test the viability of treatment. They plan to provide $100,000 to fund research and trials in the States.

Hopefully, once the NCUBB project is up and running, JPF will be able to focus on funding research and sponsoring clinical trials related to the use of the umbilical cord blood stem cells.

Blessings,

Joseph Pang

Donor Appreciation Plaque

2008-06-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends:

DONOR APPRECIATION PLAQUE
The concept of “Donor Appreciation Plaque” and the abbreviated version of the “NCUBB business plan” are attached for your review.

For institutional donors, the JPF and the UCSF Children’s Hospital will proudly recognize your names but not limited to a custom-designed plaque based on the following categories. The plaque will be displayed on the wall within the facilities of the cord blood bank in perpetuity or as long as it is in operational at the UCSF Children’s Hospital.

Visionaries: $500K or higher
Founders: $250K or higher
Champions: $100K or higher
Benefactors: $50K or higher
Partners: $10K or higher

Individual contribution at the $50, $100, $200 or $500 or higher level will still play a key role in helping achieve this goal and will be recognized too. From my past experiences, it would be more difficult to solicit institutional supports. However, if many individuals could demonstrate their enthusiasm and love for this project, I believe the institutional donors would be moved and will follow suit in backing up this project.

We would need your help to distribute these attached files and communicate this NCUBB project to your friends and employers. Increasingly, the cord blood transplant has been playing a key role with its easier matching criteria and reduced graft-versus-host diseases (GVHD) effect in curing more than 70 blood/bone related diseases and genetic disorders.

We would like to thank wholeheartedly the recent contribution from the Blue Shield of California. We would like to acknowledge Supervisor Sean Elsbernd of San Francisco for facilitating this donation.

NEW JPF AND NCUBB WEBSITES
We hope you would appreciate the new looks with the cheering pictures of the angelic Joanne. In many ways, Joanne will always be remembered as a Leukemia Kid and she will constantly remind us the struggle of many patients, especially those heroic little children, battling deadly and terminal diseases for a chance at life. Her book “See Daddy! That’s the New Kite” in both English and Chinese will be available for patients who are currently fighting to overcome the adversaries.

UPCOMING EVENT
Annual Public Joanne Pang Foundation Meeting scheduled for Saturday, November 15, 2008, 2:00-4:00pm; Meeting open to the public to scrutinize our accounting procedures and our accomplishments for the year.

Year-end fund-raising dinner scheduled for Saturday, November 22, 2008; more than 35 people had attended the volunteer night on June 12 at Leanna’s home in preparation of this event. We would still need additional help in publicity, event underwriting, reservations/table sales, and raffle, etc. Please contact Lisa Napoli of the JPF Community Relations at Lisa@joannepang.org if you could help out.

Flyers with more details will be distributed later.

Wishing you all a Happy July 4th weekend!!

Joe.

JPF Event “Celebrating Joanne” on April 19, Saturday

2008-04-08T20:01:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends:

The flyer for “Celebrating Joanne” is attached. I also enclose a flyer which we had used in communicating the NCUBB project. Please help circulate these flyers to your friends if feasible. We are inviting the friends of the JPF to celebrate Joanne’s birthday and become active members to help communicate this life-saving project to various Bay Area communities. All ages are welcome.

When the board proposed to kick off this year’s activities with the celebration of Joanne’s birthday, many thoughts had crossed my mind: “What an unthinkable journey with Joanne!! What a transformation of my life after her passing.” Fr. Vito Perrone noted in the foreword of her story in 2005: “…Dear Joanne, as I read through your father’s book for my final time, I was crying and shaking, so deeply was I moved by who you are. They were not so much tears of sorrow over your terrible suffering or your death, but tears of victory – of joy – for Joanne, you won! Joanne, your life has been victorious. Your heroic virtue in this life has been rewarded with eternal life, and the Light of Christ, which shone through you, has helped light that same Light within us...”

“…If it were God’s intention that you be the messenger of this terrible disease, leukemia, you did your part. You made a lot of people aware of it. Some prominent people heard it, too. Mayor Brown and supervisor Tony Hall will honor you in their meetings…” said Anne Lee, Joanne’s Mom, in her email to the caring friends in memory of Joanne on January 20, 2003 shortly after her passing into eternity on January 13 that year.

Please join us in honor of Joanne and all the loved ones heroically battling various deadly and terminal diseases. I also believe that the heaven is having a big smile on our little project of LOVE to challenge the leukemia and all other cancers in the 21st century. Thanks.

Blessings,

Joe.

JPF Event April 19, Joanne's book in Chinese

2008-03-20T20:10:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends:

NEW WEBSITE
The NCUBB (Northern California Umbilical Cord Blood Bank) website is now online at http://www.ncubb.org. Once established, the NCUBB will be led by Morton Cowan, M.D., chief of UCSF’s Pediatric Blood and Bone Marrow Transplant Program. Dr. Cowan is widely recognized as one of the world’s pre-eminent authorities in bone marrow and stem cell transplantation

CHINESE TRANSLATION
See Daddy! That’s the New Kite is now available in Chinese from Kuangchi Culture Group, a well-established Chinese Catholic publisher. The book was translated by Fr. Francis Li, a Hangzhou parish priest and an expert in theology. Fr. Francis wrote a memorable note after the completion of this translation project: “…I always feel that God and Joanne gave me the courage and strength to accomplish the task…Joanne Pang Foundation is God’s work on Joanne and the fruit of her life-A reminder of His Gracious Love.” The link to this book could be found at http://www.kcg.org.tw/pub/206/206157.htm.

We have reserved a limited number of Joanne’s books in English and Chinese to give out to patients who are battling terminal diseases as well as to the families who have lost their loved ones. We would also be happy to give the books to anyone who could help raise the awareness of a desperate need for the patients with leukemia and other cancers for a life-saving transplant. Please let me know if you would like a copy of the book.

UPCOMING EVENT
Join us in “Celebrating Joanne” at the Saint Cecilia Church at 9 am on Saturday, April 19. The Saint Cecilia Church is located at 2555 17th Avenue in San Francisco. We are inviting the friends of the JPF to celebrate Joanne’s birthday and help communicate this NCUBB project to various Bay Area communities. A flyer with more details will be distributed later.

Wishing you all a Happy Easter!!

Joe.

A Documentary on Joanne

2008-02-23T10:05:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends:

With my wholehearted thanks to the production crew, friends, and supporters of the JPF, I am proudly presenting to you a documentary on Joanne. It is now available to view on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/joannepangfoundation.

I hope you would be thrilled as I have been to hear this voice message “See Daddy! That’s the New Kite,” resembling Joanne’s nine months after her passing. Was it a wakeup call to me? Certainly, yes. It has helped not only relieve all the quilt that I had felt for failing to keep her with us but also reveal that Joanne has a new form of life and is free from suffering like a kite flying happily in the sky as said in the Bible.

“Joanne symbolized LOVE,” Msgr. Harriman of Saint Cecilia Church said at Joanne’s funeral service on January 16, 2003. I hope Joanne’s journey of Faith, Love, and Hope would remind us the sufferings of many patients like her in need of a life-saving transplant and encourage us to support the NCUBB project at the UCSF children’s hospital. Thanks.

Blessings,

Joseph Pang.

A Challenging Project in a Difficult Time

2008-01-22T21:20:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends:

Wishing you a Happy and Healthy New Year!!

Please accept my apology for not sending out the greetings sooner. We were simply busy preaching the NCUBB project and laying the ground work for the awareness campaign events this year.

In addition to many press coverage on the launch, we were also on the air waves as follows

KOIT Radio interview "Today's World with Sherry Brown" with Sherry Brown, Dr. Morton Cowan of UCSF, and Scott Hildula on December 12, 2007
http://koit.radiotown.com/todaysworld/12142007.mp3

Channel 8 KTSF26 Talk Tonight with Orlando Shih and Joseph Pang on January 9. Interview is available once permitted by KTSF26 for release.

Additional interview with Liz Saint John and Scott Hildula was aired this weekend on the following radio stations:Alice @ 97.3 fm – Sunday between 7-8 a.m.Between 6-7 a.m. On KFRC, KMBC (99.7) and KITS (Live 105 FM) and KYOU on 1550 AM

We are also in the production of making a 5 to 10 minutes documentary film on the story of Joanne and the mission of the foundation which will be available in late February.

We will be presenting the NCUBB project at various meetings, such as Lions Club, Kiwanis, and Evangelization Concert... in the coming months. Key awareness campaign events, such as Golf, Dinner/Annual Reconciliation, etc., are currently being planned.

If you could contribute your time and assist us in these events, please let us know. We will be happy to fan out to present the project if you could help us arrange one. We hope, through many of these functions, we could solicit needed supports for this NCUBB project from various Bay Area communities.

Finally, on behalf of the JPF board, I would like to thank many of you for the precious times and generous donations in support of this project. We are really undertaking a challenging project in a difficult time (Economic uncertainties) and we need lots of your prayers.

I would like to conclude this update with a memorable note “God hears even the smallest voice” from Sr. Margaret, Joanne’s 2nd grader teacher during her illness. Together with your help, we would let our little voice be heard and make the dream of the NCUBB a reality.

For additional information, please contact Lisa Napoli, our latest addition to the board, of Community Relations at lisanapoli@sbcglobal.net.

Blessings,

Joe.

A Reflection on the "Cord Blood for Life" Project Kick-Off

2007-11-27T11:24:00.000-08:00

Dear JPF Friends:

The heavens helped celebrate this very special moment by providing the surprisingly sunny, warm and slightly breezy weather, considering the cloudy, cool and misty days before and after the launch. We had about 200 people attending the kick-off event at the San Francisco City Hall on November 15.

A big Thank You to Chris’ 5th grade classmates, Joanne’s high school pals, teachers, parents, doctors, news media, community leaders and friends for participating in this event. Thank you to Senator Carole Midgen for sharing her personal experience of matchless bone marrow searches as she was battling the deadly leukemia. And Thank You to Assemblywoman Fiona Ma (our former neighbor) for sharing her involvement in the Asian American Donor Program after witnessing our dilemma back in 2001 when we searched for a matched bone marrow donor for Joanne. We were also encouraged by the inspirational talks given by SF Supervisor Sean Elsbernd, SF DPH Director Dr. Mitch Katz, Former state Senator Jackie Speier, Dr. Jordan Wilbur of Cancer Hope (Joanne’s doctor at CPMC), Executive Director Roxanne Fernandes of UCSF Children’s Hospital, and Chairman Jonathan Leong of Asian American Donor Program.

The resolution put forth, and approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on November 20th (with a file number of 071569), “commending JPF’s incredible challenge of raising $2.5 million to initiate the first Northern California Umbilical Cord Blood Bank,” further verified the need for this public and nonprofit cord blood bank. Joanne was truly fortunate to be a San Franciscan as I recalled that the Board of Supervisors adjourned its regular meeting back on January 21, 2003, out of respect for her passing on January 13th of that year.

Thank you, too, to The Lions Clubs of San Francisco and The Peninsula for inviting us and Fr. Vito Perrone to present the JPF Fundraising Project in the evening of November 16. Thank you, Fr. Vito Perrone for addressing the need to support the JPF as we embark on this challenging NCUBB project, as well as for sharing your memorable encounters with Joanne. This project needs community grass-root support, and we are hoping to have the backing from the Lions Clubs and many other similar organizations.

Thank you to Charlotte Holper, a Saint Cecilia School 5th grader, and her pal Casey Stengel, for their donation of $48.39; money earned from their work selling homemade lemonade in their neighborhood. The two of you really made this day especially special for us. We will need many more individual contributions like yours at the $50, $100, $200 or $500 or higher level to help us raise the needed startup funds to provide life-saving therapies in Northern California and worldwide.

While the kickoff events are like a train which has just left the station, and it, like the Joanne Pang Foundation, has a long way to go before reaching its final destination, we will always follow Joanne’s little kite of hope, love and faith to help the needy patients for a chance at life.

Happy Holidays!!

Joseph Pang

JPF News Alert for NCUBB lanuch

2007-11-01T08:50:00.000-07:00

-NEWS ALERT-

Public Cord Blood Bank Campaign Launch

Bay Area Births Rich Source of Life Saving Stem Cells

WHAT: Northern California Umbilical Cord Blood Bank Campaign Launch
WHO: San Francisco Supervisors, State, and City Officials
WHERE: SF City Hall, Front Steps
WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 15th, 1:00 pm

Citing the need for a way to collect and store potentially life saving umbilical cord stem blood cells, SF Supervisor Sean Elsbernd and other local politicians, doctors and officials of the Joanne Pang Foundation will officially lunch a fundraising campaign to raise $2.5 million. Funds raised will establish the public, non-profit Northern California Umbilical Cord Blood Bank in San Francisco .

“There is a critical need for increased capacity for public cord blood banking, and because of its ethnic diversity, the San Francisco Bay Area is an especially good place for this to happen," said Dr. Michael D. Amylon, Emeritus Professor, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford.

Nearly 20 percent of all babies born in California each year are delivered in Northern California . The ethnic diversity of the region means that the Northern California Umbilical Cord Blood Bank units will a have a broad genetic mix which will benefit Asian, African American, Caucasian, and Hispanic patients of all ages.

Unlike bone marrow donor matching, collecting cord blood stem cells is non-invasive, easier to match to patients in need and non-controversial. In most births today, cord blood is disposed of after a baby is born. Once this cord blood bank is established, parents giving birth will have the option of donating this gift of life at no cost to them.

Media Contacts:
Joanne Pang Foundation
Scott Hildula, President
Email: scott@joannepang.org
Tel: (415) 786-3036

San Francisco Supervisor
Sean Elsbernd, District 7
Email: sean.elsbernd@sfgov.org
Phone: (415) 554-6516

Currently, our speakers will include:

Senator Carol Migden
SF Sup Sean Elsbernd
SF Public Health Director Mitch Katz
Jonathan Leong, Chairman of Asian American Donor Program

I hope you could help share this email with your friends and invite them to attend this press conference on November 15. If established, this public, nonprofit, world-class cord blood bank will help provide life-saving therapies to the communities in Northern California and around world for many decades to come.

Blessings,

Joseph Pang

Kick-off fundraising event postponed and appointment of the JPF officers

2007-09-04T07:32:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends:

The previously planned kick-off fundraising event for the Joanne Pang Foundation at the Saint Cecilia Parish on September 15 will be postponed to a later date. This delay will allow us more time to ensure a successful presentation of the exciting cord blood bank project to the Northern California communities.

I know that some of you may be disappointed. Please accept my apology. September 15 is a special day for the JPF as Joanne’s miraculous voice message was left on our home answering machine on September 15, 2003. It is also the annual feast date of “Our Lady’s Sorrow.” By having the kick-off fundraising event on September 15, I had hoped it would also be in reverence to the Virgin Mary. Perhaps we will be able to come together and celebrate this special date next year.

On a more proactive note, I am pleased to announce the appointment of JPF officers and the formation of various working committees (Marketing, Legal, Finance, Board Development) of the JPF. The new JPF officers include:

Scott Hildula, CEO and president of the JPF. Scott is the founder of RedUmbrella Group and specializes in media strategy, speechwriting and collateral for corporate and technology clients worldwide. Scott is a member of the St. Cecilia Parish and current president of the St. Cecilia School Athletic Board.

Vincent McGovern, vice president of the JPF. Vincent has extensive managerial experience working for the J. David Gladstone Institutes, a Non-Profit Research Institute focusing on the study of Cardiovascular Disease, Neurological Disease (Alzheimer’s), and Aids and the HIV Virus. Vincent is a member of the St. Cecilia Parish and a former president of the Men’s Club of the St. Cecilia Parish.

Gregory S. Porter, CPA, CFO and treasurer of the JPF. Greg is a partner with Silverman, Krantz, & Porter, An Accountancy Corporation, which provides personalized accounting and tax services that range from preparation of financial statements, budgeting analysis, audits, and tax preparation, to bookkeeping. Greg is a member of the St. Cecilia Parish and a former treasurer of the Men’s Club of the St. Cecilia Parish.

We will announce other key posts and detail the formation of various committees in future updates. Please let me know if you are interested in participating in any of the above mentioned committees or a new committee which you would like to suggest to us.

Please keep this project in your prayers. Thanks.

Blessings,

Joseph Pang

Cord Blood Bank Proposal Received

2007-05-30T19:31:00.001-07:00

May 30, 2007

Dear Friends:

I couldn’t believe in my eyes when I received the draft proposal on the Cord Blood Bank from Marisa Quinn of UCSF a week ago.

In this 24-page draft proposal, it eloquently outlines the challenges of setting up a no-profit world class cord blood bank and the promises of treating a variety of oncologic, genetic and acquired disorders over the next few decades.

UCSF Children's Hospital will support the bank in the areas of facilities and personnel, and ensure regulatory compliance. The Joanne Pang Foundation will provide start-up funds for the next five years in operation as well as assist in identifying future sources of funding.

We will meet with the key UCSF officials in late June to finalize the proposal and start to campaign for this project in earnest afterwards.

Please keep this project in your prayers. Thanks.

God Blessings,

Joe.

Update on Cord Blood Bank

2007-04-04T12:33:00.000-07:00

April 4, 2007

Dear Friends:

Please accept my apology for this belated update.

We had a meeting with Dr. Cowan and Marisa Quinn yesterday morning to exchange ideas of setting up a public and not-for-profit cord blood bank at UCSF. Dr. Cowan, Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of BMT (Bone Marrow Transplant) Division, was Joanne’s primary physician at UCSF in 2001 to 2002. Marisa is the inpatient nurse coordinator for BMT and has spearheaded in drafting the budget plan for this project.

While there are still many obstacles to overcome, we hope to finalize the plan in early May with Roxanne Fernandes, executive director of UCSF Children Hospital and start to campaign and fund-raise for this project in earnest.

If established, this cord blood bank will benefit patients needing critical transplants for many generations to come. It will also carry on the spirit of God’s gracious love and honor our loved ones who had battled and succumbed to the deadly diseases and cancers.

Hope you will be available for the next 6 to 9 months and join us for this crusade. If you have any suggestions in fund-raising, please also feel free to let me know. Thanks.

Happy Easter!!

Joseph Pang

Meeting Delayed and Translation of Joanne's Book for Chinese Readers Worldwide

2006-12-16T18:08:00.000-08:00

November 28, 2006

Dear Friends:

Our working committee meeting will be postponed to February/March 2007 instead of December 10 next month as originally planned.

It will not only permit Dr. Cowan and Ms. Fernandes of UCSF Medical Center to fine-tune the logistics and work out a three-year budget for a world class cord blood bank and stem cell research center but also give us needed breath to design a campaign strategy and perhaps start to assemble a list of potential individual and corporate donors. The budget will be undoubtedly in millions.

On another front, I am excited to report that the editors of the Kuangchi Cultural Group in Taiwan will help translate Joanne’s book for the Chinese readers worldwide according to Fr. Bao. KCG is a Catholic publishing house founded in 1957 and is known for publishing and distributing books in Chinese on theology, philosophy, religion, and spirituality as well as popular books and translations based on Christian values. KCG has been supported by the communications ministry of the Jesuits of the China Province.

Hopefully, some time in 2007, we could celebrate the commencement of a world class cord blood bank and research center at UCSF in honor of Joanne and all patients missing critical transplant together with the publication of her book in Chinese.

I will keep you abreast of the progress and please feel free let me know if you have any suggestions.

Blessings,

Joseph Pang, Ph.D.

An Invitation for A Special Project

2006-12-16T18:07:00.000-08:00

November 22, 2006

Dear Friends:

It has been a dynamic change in my life through the journey of Joanne!!

It all started with her illness, followed by writing of her book, and now a quest for a nonprofit public cord blood bank and stem cell research center in San Francisco Bay Area. For a patient like Joanne needing critical and timely transplant, a cord blood transplant could provide the life-saving therapy, as the traditional bone marrow transplant would do.

As many of you have known, cord blood or umbilical stem cells are a rich, non-controversial source of stem cells. It has proven to effectuate cures from some of the most devastating diseases and cancers on earth including Leukemia and Sickle Cell Anemia.

In the past few months, Scott Hildula, Gregory Porter, and I had been talking to several prominent physicians at UCSF (University of California at San Francisco), CHORI (Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute), and Stanford University to see if they would warm up to the idea of establishing a Cord Blood Bank and Stem Cell Research Institute to benefit the residents in Northern California and beyond. Not surprisingly, they all agreed with Prof. Michael Amylon of Stanford University that there is a crying need for it, especially for San Francisco Bay Area.

Fruitfully, I received confirmation a few days ago that UCSF was excited about the proposed nonprofit public Cord blood bank and would work with the Joanne Pang Foundation in developing a world class cord blood bank and research center at UCSF that could potentially benefit many patients around the world according to Prof. Morton Cowan, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of BMT Division of UCSF Children’s Hospital.

Gracefully, Msgr. Harriman quickly permitted the use of the lower church in the Sunday afternoon of December 10 to invite talented parishioners and school parents to help get the words out to the residents in San Francisco Bay Area after I broke the news to him.

In this meeting at 2 pm, Scott Hildula will share and summarize all of the discussions with the physicians from various institutes. Gregory Porter will help strategize the fundraising activities. We might also have the opportunities to hear keynote speeches on the advancement of the Cord Blood Stem Cell Research from some physicians specialized in this promising field. We plan to set up an effective working committee which will involve all participants to target every corner of San Francisco Bay Area Communities as Prof. Cowan once said that this would be a major undertaking project. We would need to quickly raise critical funds within the next 6 to 9 months to enable UCSF to jump-start this project.

If established, this world class cord blood bank and research center at UCSF will benefit patients for many generations to come. It will also carry on the spirit of God’s gracious love and honor all patients who had missed critical transplants.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) commented in December of 2005 after the House passed the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act HR2520, “Not only has God in His infinite wisdom and goodness created the placenta and umbilical cord to nurture and protect the precious life of an unborn child, but now we know that another gift awaits us immediately after birth, something very special is left behind – cord blood that is rich with stem cells.”

I hope you would consider joining me in this crusade. Your help could perhaps save lives of your own friends, neighbors, and even your loved ones.

Blessings,

Joseph Pang, Ph.D.

A Special Event for Joanne's book at Barns & Noble

2006-12-16T18:03:00.000-08:00

September 24, 2006

A special event for Joanne’s book “See Daddy! That’s the New Kite”

Alex Brown wrote an article in 2001 with a title of “Help Little Joanne Beat Leukemia” in San Francisco Examiner: “You want to call her a victim, because she is a leukemia patient. You want to describe her outlook as brave and courageous, because that’s convention. Then you look a little deeper. And that’s when it hits you. Joanne Pang, an 8-year-old student at Saint Cecilia School, isn’t a victim of leukemia. She is the disease’s adversary…” Joanne passed away in 2003 and she would have been 13 this year.

In remembrance of Joanne, Barnes and Noble would like to host a special event honoring patients and their families who are battling deadly diseases. All who were affected by Joanne are invited to attend. We encourage you to bring pictures of your loved ones to share your experience.

B&N will donate up to 20% of the net sales from this event to Saint Cecilia School, where Joanne was a 4th grader before she went to Lord in early 2003. (Please ask for a Bookfair Voucher at B&N before attending.)

Fr. Vito Perrone, who was pivotal in the editorial review of this book and subsequently wrote a touchy foreword, will help celebrate this event.

A limited number of the bookmarks with Joanne’s artwork made in 2002 will be available to the guests through Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.

Please come for a day of journey with the spirit of Joanne at B&N. Cheers!!

Date: September 24 (Sunday)
Time: 2 pm
Where: Bay View room, 5604 Bay Street in Emeryville
Direction: After Bay Bridge, I-80 East, Powell Street Exit, R on Powell Street, R on Christie Ave (0.2 mil), R on Bay Street (0.2 mil) exit, near IKEA. Parking is free with the purchase of any items at the shopping mall.

For more information, please email to josephpang@pacbell.net or visit Joanne’s website at http://www.joannepang.org/ or call Joe at 415-624-4123 (C). Joanne’s book is also available through San Francisco Kaufer’s Religious Supplies at 1455 Custer Avenue/3rd Street.