| Dear Friends,
When my son, T.J., passed away in 1975 at the age of 19 due to leukemia, my life felt displaced and the pain unbearable. It was only the promise I had made to him that kept me afloat amidst such a devastating personal tragedy and filled me with purpose – to raise one million dollars for lifesaving cancer research.
T.J wanted to fortify and expand the critical research that had enabled him to survive two years beyond his original prognosis. He understood so well the significance of his terrible disease and its impact on not only himself, but on the lives of so many other young victims and their families.
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With the help of artists and friends within and outside the music industry, several fundraising events were organized and eventually, the T.J. Martell Foundation was founded. Since its formation, we have raised nearly a quarter billion dollars in support of innovative cancer research at eight extraordinary research laboratories throughout the country. Groundbreaking progress is being made every day and I now see that a real cure is becoming much less of an impossible journey.
It has been many years since the one million dollar mark was achieved - but for my beloved son T.J., and for everyone else who has undergone the experience of cancer, leukemia, or AIDS, I pledge that the T.J. Martell Foundation will not rest until a true cure is discovered.
Tony Martell |
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