Focus

Some priorities have undoubtedly changed in this COVID-challenged year. But City of Hope’s focus has remained razor-sharp, all in the name of sustaining hope for cancer and diabetes sufferers around the world

With so many in-person events cancelled and even City of Hope’s (COH) National Business Products Industry (NBPI) tour going virtual in 2021, it’s been a challenging time for all involved. However, support by our industry has been unwavering, as this year’s City of Hope Spirit of Life honouree Greg Gibson, VP & General Manager of International Paper (IP), told OPI’s Heike Dieckmann in a May podcast conversation (visit opi.net/podcast).

Below are extracts from that interview, conducted jointly with COH’s Senior Director of Corporate Philanthropy Matt Dodd, plus an update on the aforementioned virtual tour in mid-June.

OPI: Let’s begin with you, Greg. How did you get involved with City of Hope?

Greg Gibson: About 30 years ago I was introduced to COH through Irwin Helford when calling on Viking Office Products. Irwin was telling me how the NBPI was supporting this medical research facility and invited me to go on a City of Hope tour the following year.

From the moment of walking onto the campus, I knew it was a special place and something I wanted my company International Paper to support. We’ve been strong advocates ever since.

I’m also very invested from a personal perspective. My father passed away as a result of cancer when I was three years old. In addition, I’ve long been involved in Type 1 diabetes charity JDRF and what COH is doing in that area too. Those two causes are very dear to me, making why I want to stand behind COH in a significant way even more impactful.

OPI: Your campaign is called Sustain Hope. What’s the specific relevance of that tagline?

GG: We got a group of IP people together and asked ourselves what type of theme that’s meaningful to us would also be important to this year’s campaign and City of Hope overall? We came up with Sustain Hope for two main reasons.

Greg Gibson

One is that our business revolves around sustainability, whether it be the paper, packaging or pulp we make, or the long-term approach we take around a strong and vibrant forest. When you relate the concept of sustainability to City of Hope, there’s a considerable parallel.

The NBPI has been supporting COH for many years. The last couple of fundraising campaigns – both Stephanie Dismore’s and mine – have been dominated by COVID. It would have been easy to throw in the towel in these circumstances and pass on the fundraising effort for the time being.

But that’s not what happened and this is the second reason. What this industry did instead is persevere with the campaigns in difficult times to make a meaningful difference. As such, the Sustain Hope theme seemed appropriate and fitting, both from a business as well as a philanthropic point of view.

OPI: You mention coronavirus and there’s obviously no escaping from it. Matt, these must have been an intense 15 months or so for you.

Matt Dodd: Definitely. City of Hope – like everyone everywhere – had to turn on a dime and deal with something completely unexpected. It did that incredibly well in my view, in terms of the magnitude of what was required.

UPCOMING EVENTS

7-10 September

2021 City of Hope Industry Golf Challenge – Pebble Beach, California

6 October

2021 NBPI Memorial Golf Classic (presented by Essendant & Staples) – Harborside Int’l Golf Course, Chicago, Illinois

7 October

2021 NBPI Spirit of Life Gala honouring Greg Gibson of International Paper – Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois

17-18 October

Bob Parker Memorial Golf Classic (hosted by Staples) – Kiawah Island, South Carolina

8 November

Spinitar’s Annual Golf for Hope – Yorba Linda Country Club, Orange County, California

Implementing new protocols and procedures to maintain ultimate safety for the patients, nurses and healthcare providers at COH was a massive undertaking and transformation. We had to cater for all eventualities and it worked out as well as you could possibly expect.

Through it all, we of course also needed to continue to plough ahead with research efforts and the treatment of patients. And that’s what we did.

OPI: In terms of the NBPI’s involvement, you had to cancel an awful lot of physical events. What has that meant for fundraising?

MD: It’s been very sad as those events are a really important part of the NBPI’s involvement with COH.

The good news is, however, that the fundraising is incredibly diverse. Unlike some of our other industry verticals which are mostly focused on events, NBPI monies are raised in many different ways. Out of the $15 million we typically generate each year, 33% come through events.

The other two thirds are via a variety of non-event related activities, led by our direct mail corporate matching gift programme. The response to those mailings from supporters and people who care about cancer and diabetes is astounding – we raise roughly $8 million from this programme every year.

We also have quite a few companies that engage in promotional activities through product sales, meaning a percentage of the sale of a certain item goes to COH. Then we have employee giving activities – car washes, bake sales and the like – and national company sponsorships for initiatives including the Walk for Hope or our student Summer Science Academy.

Last but not least, we have our personal giving programme that’s really important and involves anything from a contribution of $25 up to $25,000 per individual.

All these activities combined make up about $10 million. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for some remaining big events later this summer (see ‘Upcoming Events’) and more fundraising then.

OPI: What is the money being spent on?

MD: First and foremost, it’s for research that results in new therapies, treatments and ultimately cures.

Let me explain this in a bit more detail. The large pharmaceutical companies and government agencies are not really in the risk business anymore. Before they commit and work with an organisation, they want to know proof of concept, efficacy, will it work, is it going to make some money.

They have a great idea, want to start testing, but they can’t get the funding, the materials, and so on. As regards COH, the NBPI monies are being used as seed money for the latest ideas, recruiting new researchers, etc, so we can move that continuum along and evolve from a great concept to actually testing, proof of efficacy and the like to keep the process going. The focus is on the next generation of therapies.

Immunotherapy is something we have led the way in with clinical trials for many years. It’s basically reprogramming our immune systems that fight and kill cancer, but making them stronger and smarter.

It’s also about precision medicine. Years ago, it was chemotherapy and radiation which killed the good cells along with the bad. As technology has evolved and our knowledge has fast-tracked, we can be less aggressive in treatments, and more precise and personal. Diagnosis is not all that matters; why you have the disease is important too, because it will dictate the best therapy.

Every day we discover and learn more – about cancer, diabetes and virus therapy. But all that knowledge requires an enormous amount of research which, in turn, relies on incredible funding. The monies raised by the NBPI are simply invaluable to City of Hope.

CITY OF HOPE GOES VIRTUAL

Customarily organised in February along with the Hall of Fame Dinner, this year’s City of Hope (COH) tour went virtual. Held on 15 June, it brought together about 400 COH supporters – including ten Spirit of Life honourees – in a 90-minute tour de force highlighting the medical research centre’s achievements and current focus points.

A short opening address by COH CEO Robert Stone was followed by a message from the 2021 Spirit of Life honouree Greg Gibson. Assistant Professor Saul Priceman, Dr John Zaia and Professor Debbie Thurmond FOCUS then gave updates on the centre’s work in the areas of immunotherapy, virus therapy and diabetes, while 17-year-old patient speaker Anya Shah candidly talked about her cancer experience and City of Hope’s role in her recovery.

As Chief Philanthropy Officer Kristin Bertell was quick to point out, COH’s work hasn’t stopped because of the pandemic, with fundraising being more important than ever. The next part of the ‘tour’ dealt very specifically with the personal giving aspect of that fundraising, spearheaded by now retired Essendant executive Joe Templet and OPI CEO Steve Hilleard. Having set a goal to raise $3 million over a five-year period through personal giving for the NBPI’s chemical GMP synthesis facility, Hilleard urged supporters to go that extra mile to secure the remaining $50,000 in the coming weeks and months.

The Virtual Tour culminated in the announcement of the 2021 class of the NBPI City of Hope Hall of Fame. Introduced by Council Chair Scott Light, he referred to all Hall of Famers as the “true lifeblood of the NBPI’s council”. The two individuals inducted this year were Vonnie Provinzino from 3M – incidentally the first woman in the Hall of Fame – and Greg Welchans from Distribution Management/Supplies Network.

Wrapping up, Gibson’s upbeat message was that, after a challenging and utterly unprecedented year, his Sustain Hope campaign will hopefully conclude with a number of events that will not only bring supporters together again in person, but also raise more vital funds in the process.