2007 Annual Report Photo: Leah and David Nepa The mission of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation is to raise awareness and funds to cure kids’ cancer by supporting cancer research and fellowships. in this issue: Leah and David Leah and David by Natalie Stamer page 1 Few parents think about childhood cancer until after their child is letter from St. Baldrick’s Foundation diagnosed, but David Nepa is an exception. Since 2002, David page 2 has been a steadfast supporter of St. Baldrick’s through Tom and Colleen Stewart, faithful and long-standing St. Baldrick’s organizers observations on courage page 2 and shavees. “Tom was always trying to get me to shave my head but I was afraid to part with my long hair, so I supported them and so the trip begins! financially.” David said. page 3 In 2006, three weeks into kindergarten, David’s daughter, Leah, told her parents that her arm hurt after a fall at school. David sibling rivalry turned sibling support noticed that she wasn’t using her left arm, often keeping it in her page 3 pocket. After she woke in the night to complain of pain, the Nepa’s Leah Nepa head-shaving locations in 2007 scheduled a trip to the pediatrician’s office. Scans and x-rays page 4 confirmed that Leah had Ewings sarcoma. Leah began chemotherapy immediately, and in January, had surgery on her arm to St. Baldrick’s Foundation growth replace the diseased bone with chrome cobalt. Had Leah been diagnosed six years page 4 earlier, her doctor said, they would have amputated her arm. Naturally energetic, outgoing and gregarious, hats off to the top events, teams, and shavees page 5 Leah’s cancer hasn’t slowed her down. At the age of 6, she’s a very busy little girl, enjoying a hip hop raising awareness around the world! dance class, swimming any chance she gets and pages 6 - 8 learning to play the violin. After the diagnosis, David decided to get celebrities support the cause involved with St. Baldrick’s in a more noticeable page 9 way; he registered as a shavee, finally parting with St. Baldrick’s funds at work his long locks! page 10 On the day of the event, Leah was in the hospital. That morning, she received her financial statements, fiscal year 2007 treatment and the doctors gave her a day pass to pages 11 - 12 attend the event. “She helped shave my head,” David said. “She thought that was so cool and she major sponsors The Nepa family pictured here with organizers and page 13 shavees, Colleen and Tom Stewart. was very excited that she was not the only one in the family without hair.” our donors pages 14 -18 “I would like to take a moment and describe my HERO. meet the kids page 18 My HERO cannot fly, stop speeding trains, or save the world. Rather my HERO wakes up every morning to face a new day, a sister remembered page 19 knowing that day will likely be filled with pain and nausea. My HERO has the strength to endure long drives to the hospital in memoriam page 19 for exams and blood draws. My HERO has the ability to face his illness, without losing his staff and event organizers sense of humor. page 20 My HERO can understand that even though his tumor is gone, his cancer is a life-long battle. My HERO, though a child, can face adult situations and participate in medical decisions. My HERO, my strength, my courage, My SON.” –Ingrid Stolmack, mom to cancer survivor, Kyle Stolmack. Be a HERO for kids with cancer Dear Friends, observations on courage in the Throughout the past year, we have heard numerous stories that have face of childhood cancer St. Baldrick’s at their core: One of a donor who spotted a family of Excerpt from a speech by Al Sears, shavee, Redondo Beach, CA, and parent of fellow vacationers wearing their St. Baldrick’s t-shirts on a tropic Aidan, a child with cancer isle, two volunteers who on separate planes received educations about St. Baldrick’s from flight attendants before they introduced I’m the proud parent of a child themselves as being a part of the foundation, a volunteer who heard with leukemia. Throughout this a radio announcement for a local event in a city 500 miles from her experience, I’ve been really taken by own, and a father who had been a steadfast donor for years before how fundamentally important courage his daughter was diagnosed with childhood cancer. These are just is in the fight against childhood a few examples of this movement which has grown from a small cancer. Moreover, I’ve realized that event among friends, to the world’s largest volunteer-driven event for I can find inspiring acts of courage childhood cancer research. each day, and everywhere I look. So, In the early years, participants, founders and staff found in no particular order, I’d like to share themselves forced to spell “St. Baldrick’s,” taking the time to explain with you some of my observations of the play on words and the fictional nature of the “saint.” But in 2007, courage and cancer: the St. Baldrick’s landscape has dramatically changed. Because of • I have seen courage in the face of the enthusiasm and passionate dedication of those involved in this my child when he’s about to get Aidan and Al Sears heart-stirring event, tens of thousands of people are walking through poked with a needle, or when he must once again take some their communities with bald heads, wearing St. Baldrick’s t-shirts yucky, horrible-tasting medicine. and wristbands, and talking about next year’s event without further • I’ve spied courage in children when they muster a smile even explanation. In just eight short years, St. Baldrick’s is on the brink of though their treatments have sapped them of their strength. becoming a household name. • I’ve felt the courage of siblings, including my younger son, as they “St. Baldrick’s” didn’t enter into the vocabulary of so many strive to cope with an irate brother or sister and a world turned people as a result of advertising and marketing dollars; instead, the upside-down. St. Baldrick’s name has traveled across the globe, from person to • I’ve seen courage in the faces and actions of our family, friends and person, as a name that represents progress, hope and solidarity for families of children with cancer. We are grateful to our thousands neighbors when they ask how we are doing and how can they help. of event organizers, shavees, barbers, volunteers, fellows, doctors, • I’ve found courage in the eyes of strangers as they reached out to us. nurses, families and most especially the children who share the St. • I’ve witnessed courage in the actions of doctors and nurses as Baldrick’s message and represent the cause of childhood cancer. they carefully, painstakingly, and lovingly tend to their patients It is not without purpose that we charge forward, spreading the each day. St. Baldrick’s message, it is with hope that a cure for childhood • I’ve summoned courage as I watched my child struggle to walk cancer can be found in our lifetime. Through the tremendous up three steps because the various drugs he was taking were generosity of our donors and participants, St. Baldrick’s aims to: weakening his legs. • Raise $25 million per year by 2011; • And I’ve watched courage bolster parents as they sat worriedly • Fund one fellow at each of the 60 or so eligible institutions in waiting for their child to emerge from surgery. North America; • Partner with respected organizations abroad to help children These are solemn acts of courage, but I’ve also found the courage to with cancer worldwide; laugh and smile when: • Equip researchers with the resources necessary to develop less harmful therapies; and • Sitting in the hospital bed with my son, he tells me, “We had a • Continue to fund the most promising scientific research while great day, didn’t we Dad.” Yes, we did. advancing the frontiers of cancer treatment. • After eating fifteen pancakes, a bowl of cereal, half of a banana, • Continue shaving until thousands of kids like Leah Nepa (see a handful of blueberries, some toast, and a glass of milk for story, page 1) can be assured a full and healthy life – where breakfast, my son asks me, “So, what else is there to eat?” surviving cancer won’t be the fulfillment of her dream, but the • After being told that he has a cold and is a little sick, my younger start of a lifetime of them. two-year-old son replies, “I’m not sick, my brother is.” Being a household name isn’t enough, it is simply a means to an • My son becomes Mr. Potato Head by sticking pieces on his end, the end of childhood cancer. head, in his mouth and ears, and up his nose. With humble thanks, Lastly, I have found the courage to be happy, even when all is not right in the world. Thank you again to each and every person involved in this event. What you are doing is amazing and courageous, too, and really, it Tim Kenny Kathleen Ruddy makes a difference. Here’s to bald heads! Co-Founder & Chairman of the Board Executive Director board of directors Tim Kenny Tom F. Leonhardt Enda McDonnell Sal Zaffino Co-Founder & Chairman of the Board Senior Vice President, Towers Perrin Co-Founder Honorary Chairman President & CEO, QBE the Americas Chicago, IL President and CEO Chairman & CEO New York, NY Access Reinsurance Guy Carpenter & Company, Inc.