To recognize Melanoma Awareness Month in May, The Pap Corps raised $513,000 for melanoma research during its Dr. Kevin Berkowitz Memorial End of Year Giving Campaign.
These funds will be directed toward groundbreaking research on melanoma, the deadly skin cancer, at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. This giving challenge was augmented by the generous $100,000 matching gift from the Yass family.
“Melanoma is the deadliest of skin cancers. In fact, over 125,000 Americans will be diagnosed with melanoma this year – roughly one person every six minutes, and incidence of the disease continues to rise,” says David Bakelman, CEO, The Pap Corps. “Melanoma can also occur in the eyes and metastasize to other organs. Our donation to Sylvester is being earmarked for advanced types of research, and we are very proud to help support the doctors in these efforts.”
Gerald Yass had established the Yass Discovery Fund for Collaborative Research at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center to focus on melanoma in memory of his late wife.
“Each year, we earmark our end-of-year giving for a selected cancer,” says Linda Moses, president, The Pap Corps. “We are confident that The Pap Corps’ efforts, paired with the Yass family’s generosity, will help make exciting new discoveries and create better treatments for melanoma.”
Since its founding in 1952, The Pap Corps has donated more than $110 million to Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, including a historic $50 million pledge in 2016 dedicating The Pap Corps Campus at Sylvester in Deerfield Beach. O
For more information, visit thepapcorps.org.