Tony and I went to Seattle to present the check to Dr Olsen and his team at Fred Hutch. We got a chance to sit down with part of the team and share a little about us and Unravel.
I was so proud to present this check on behalf of 350 families that took a stand.. raised awareness and an incredible amount of money.
The gratitude that each of the scientists expressed was impressive. This is not just a job.. this is obviously a mission for them. One of the researchers volunteered for 6 months until the money was raised to actually give him a paycheck. He believes in this lab that much.
We came with a check to cover the cost of nearly a full year of a set of hands in the lab.. but we happened to come at the perfect time. A triple match was being offered for just a few days. So instead of $70,000 we were able to help make a $210, 000 donation happen!
At the time we were there Dr Olsen announced that he had narrowed down hiring to 2 post doc candidates.. but as of that morning and knowing what we were presenting on behalf of Unravel, he had officially offered both a job! How incredible is that!
We did that! Together one house at a time. WE did that!
They explained to us what is coming up .. big things.. big great things. It is all innovative ideas. . And part of what we at Unravel are doing is allowing them the berth to try .. and learn.. and then save our kids. I wrote to Dr. Olsen to help me explain better what the gift from all the people who were part of our fluttering will do .. Here is what he wrote.
“The Project Violet scientists make “Optide” (optimized peptide) drug candidates using the DNA code for drugs made by plants and animals as blueprints.
For a moment, think of Optide drug candidates as “keys” that could “fit” the targets that are most important for kids with brain tumors. The Project Violet scientists can currently make thousands of keys at once – but they are all in the same batch – imagine how long it would take to find the “right” key if you had 10,000 keys in the same bag. The team wants to make 1000 smaller bags of keys, each of which has about 10 candidates in it. With available technology, they could tell in one day which of the “bags” holds a key that “fits” the target – then quickly sort out which “keys” (or optide drug candidates in this case) fit the target.
The cost of making 1000 batches of optides is very high – so the team needs to make 50 or 100 small batches to show partners that we can do it – in a reasonable time frame for reasonable cost. The Unravel Pediatric Cancer gift allows us to hire experienced scientists to begin making progress on the new collections of drug candidates that will best help us find the “key” that “fits” the most important pediatric brain tumor targets that we have identified.”
Thank you. For believing in what we want to do in order to Unravel pediatric cancer.. To try to attack this thing just a little bit differently.. No grants or rules from us for the researchers. And starting at the very beginning of the puzzle. We are funding the science.. the research.. the innovation that can and will lead to better options for our sick kids.. and then the eventual cure.
I do it in her name. Jennifer. And the name of my, as of right now, healthy children. Jonathan, Nicholas and Charlotte.
Who are you doing it for?
…until there is a cure…
That is amazing Libby! Way to go! Great things are happening. Im doing in honor of your beautiful Jennifer Lynn Kranz. And for my daughter Eva Rose Blundo. We love you all! All 6 of you! Until there is a cure. LOVE4JLK♡
Wow!
For Jennifer, and for Tanner, and for Jodi.
I am so honored to be a part of this and will continue to raise funds and awareness for my (now) 3 healthy children and Jennifer!
I do it for Jennifer, and for my Annabelle and Lillian, who are for now healthy.
Thanks for all you are doing.
I have never been so interested in science! I do it for Jennifer, for my children and yours. I do it for my
nephew and niece on the way, for my current and past students and all of the children of friends and friends of my children.
That is AMAZING! I do it for Jennifer, my kids and all the little warriors out there!
Really and truly amazing Libby. I am so proud of you. So honored to know you. I’m sorry we couldn’t connect while you were in Seattle, but I knew it would be a very busy, perhaps overwhelming, time, and didn’t want to impose. But know I was thinking about you, as I so very often am. What a gift you brought to Seattle. Thank you.
this is incredibly moving and I am so glad to have had a small part in this. Thank you, Libby for moving forward with this organization. It is fascinating to see what the researchers come up with.
Amazing!!
That is incredible Libby. You are doing amazing things. I am so proud of you and your whole family.
You are truly amazing! All 6 of you…until there is a cure
I fluttered for my son Gavin, my nephews Kian, Merrick & Henry, my niece Nina. For Jonathan, Nicholas and Charlotte. I did this for Jennifer for the biggest sacrifice she could ever make. I am so proud of you Libby for organizing this. I am proud of my funds & time I was able to contribute. I pray for a cure, I pray that WE are making a difference!!! Until there is a cure xoxoxooxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Wow. Go, Libby!! So exciting.
I will continue to do it for Jennifer and my (currently) 3 healthy kids Cubby, Sophia & Ella…..and all of the other children in this World.
Jennifer<3
XO
Wow!
What Libby. Your hard work and passion to find a cure is working. Hope that it will continue and that some day soon this monster will be able to be controlled and hopefully a cure. I know that you have a lot of people standing behind you for this mission and may you be blessed each and every day for all you are doing. For Jennifer, for Nicolas, Johnathan and Charlotte and all the other children that have been touched by this horrible disease.
Wonderful. Just amazing and wonderful. You should be so proud…so so proud.
I do it for Jennifer, your kids, and all of the kids I see every week at Ronald McDonald House, and LPCH. This is sooooooo exciting, I can’t wait to share it with those who responded to my fluttering! You and the glitter team made this happen, Libby!!!!!!!!!
This is such great news!
You guys are AMAZING!!!!! Really, the amount of impact you have made in such a short time is phenomenal. Jennifer is making g everybody proud. What an amazing 6 year old!!!!
What an amazing family you are. All 6 of you. So proud to be supporting you. We will find that cure in honour of Jennifer and for all children.
Awesome! You and Tony are totally inspiring and humbling. I am doing it for Jennifer and her beautiful family still here. And my sister.
I didn’t read this until now and didn’t realize the check was TRIPLED by a donor! That is just incredible and so stunning. Two full-time researchers, because of everyone who fluttered September to the very heart and core of the mission: to stop this forever. I want to give a fist pump.
We can’t get Jennifer back, but we can prevent it happening down the road to other families, other children. It’s the fight worth everything.