As OCF continues to grow, the financial requirements of running the site, creating public awareness initiatives, lobbying the medical and dental communities for change, etc. all add up. I am currently calling on a variety of corporations who are known to contribute to worthy medical causes such as ours. In each one of the contacts, information about how many people we reach (a million and a half hits in the last month on the web site alone), the efforts we are making to conduct free public screenings around the US, (see ad for the upcoming Denver screening below), and much more are discussed. At the end of these phone calls I always send them a letter with the background information about the disease, and details of what we are trying to do. I have been told recently by an individual who makes their living raising charity money, that testimonials from individuals and family members as well as doctors who work with us, would help these potential supporters understand the significance of what it is that OCF does.

If you feel that I, OCF, our web presence, or the many people that come here to post, have had a positive impact on you or your family I would appreciate hearing about it, either in an email to me at bhill@oralcancerfoundation.org or in a posting here. We will then be able to create a collection of testimonials to send out to these potential sponsors. For OCF to make the next leap in building the web site information, to increase public and professional awareness, to lobby state medical and dental licensing boards to require oral cancer detection education as a mandatory continuing education requirement, and so much more, it will take a funding, from both private individuals and in particular from a sympathetic and involved corporate sponsor. I have always wanted OCF to be free to anyone who needed the information and support. A major corporate sponsor will allow us to continue to grow without charging for a newsletter or something like other organizations do. Your letters, and even a one paragraph comments, will be a powerful part of helping the foundation find the financial support that it needs.

Additionally I know that many of you are employed by companys that do engage in benevolent giving. If you believe that your company might consider sponsoring a particular event, initiative, or partnering with OCF is it's efforts in other ways, I would like to hear about them. Just provide me with the contact information, and I will take it from there.

[img]http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/board_images/Coloradoaddraft.jpg[/img]

Brian, stage 4 oral cancer survivor. OCF Founder and Director. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.