By Irena Choi Stern, Friend of the Minters and Supporter of Elizabeth’s Hope

Nov. 2, 2016:  In the first four hours, nearly 300 tickets were sold for the 2016 cocktail fundraiser for Elizabeth’s Hope, which is celebrating its 5th anniversary. 

Bronxville graduate Tessa Naso is the organizing force behind the event on November 4 at the Bowery Hotel in Manhattan. She is one of the many current and former Bronxville residents supporting the ongoing fundraising efforts for Elizabeth’s Hope.

In 2010, Bronxville School graduate Elizabeth Minter was diagnosed with gliomatosis cerebri and, before it took her life in 2012, Elizabeth, together with her family, worked with neurosurgeon and researcher Dr. Jeffrey Greenfield of Bronxville and Dr. Mark Souweidane to launch Elizabeth’s Hope.

“I remember, so vividly, visiting Liz and hearing from her and her mom, Emmie, that they had something special to share with me,” Tessa Naso said. “They pulled up a laptop and showed me the Elizabeth’s Hope website, which they planned to make live later that month. It brings me back to Elizabeth’s vision from day one: ‘I have established Elizabeth’s Hope as a means of advancing the medical community’s knowledge of brain cancer. The fund gives me a purpose, focus, and hope.’”

Elizabeth Minter also inspired Dr. Greenfield to establish The Children’s Brain Tumor Project (CBTP), founded in 2011 by the Weill Cornell Pediatric Brain and Spine Center, which undertakes groundbreaking research.

Naso added: “Reflecting on this now and seeing how far Elizabeth’s Hope has come in just five years makes me proud to be helping achieve Elizabeth’s dream. No one knew what would come of Elizabeth’s Hope on that day, but it is our job as a community to push forward in making advances, spreading the word, and continuing Liz’s legacy in the very spirit that she would. It is our job to make her dream a reality, and the progress made in five years is tremendous.”

Bronxville’s Rob McNaughton supports Elizabeth’s Hope and the CBTP because “every child deserves to have a life of hope.”  “When our own son was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor at the age of 2.5, it was the worst day of our lives,” McNaughton said. “However, because there were at least some surgical and treatment options, we always had hope that there would be better days ahead. We sincerely believe that, through the work of Dr. Greenfield and Dr. Souweidane and their respective teams, at some point we will conquer these most difficult of brain tumors and, in the process, be able to provide hope to hundreds of families each year.” 

In the last five years, Elizabeth’s Hope and the CBTP have made huge strides, including providing funding for the state-of-the art research lab now housed at Weill Cornell Hospital. The lab now offers physicians and scientists the unprecedented ability to quickly identify a brain tumor’s “fingerprints” at the molecular level, allowing for “personalized” tumor therapy. With this information in hand, the doctors and scientists hope to identify alternative delivery methods and drugs that specifically target individual tumors. 

“Elizabeth’s Hope has helped raise more than $3 million for the Children’s Brain Tumor Project, and more than 3,000 individual donors have contributed to our cause,” Naso said. “The CBTP now includes over 40 families and has raised almost $4 million.”

McNaughton is also excited about what lies ahead. “I am excited to see what the next five years will bring, and it is my belief that many, many more families that get these dreadful diagnoses will be offered hope due to Elizabeth’s inspiration, the Minters’ courage, and the incredible scientific work done by the CBTP.”

For information about the Elizabeth’s Hope Fundraiser, go to http://www.5yearsofeh.com/.

Pictured here:  Emmie and Michael Minter with photo of Elizabeth.

Photo courtesy Irena Choi Stern