Category: Fundraising

SAA FAMILY TREE (OCTOBER 2018)

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SAA Family Tree is a monthly focus on stories that display the impact all the members of the Swim Across America family have both locally and nationally. If you have a story or link you’d like to share, please send here.

 

SAA – Charleston-Kiawah

  • Event Director Brad Johnson promoted our 2nd annual swim on Kiawah Island Golf Resort.

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SAA – Seattle

SAA – Atlanta

  • This 11Alive Recap of the Atlanta swim and ‘Amazing’ Grace Bunke’s legacy at the swim is a fitting tribute: “Hope has no finish line.”Screen Shot 2018-10-17 at 2.30.26 PM

SAA – Baltimore

SAA – Charlotte

  • SAA CEO Rob Butcher donned the wetsuit on WCCB News Rising.Screen Shot 2018-10-17 at 2.22.01 PM
  • SAA Director of Marketing Ryan Baucom and Dr. Edward Copelan of Levine Cancer Institute talked all things SAA on Charlotte Today.38280536_2204571959556269_4391243862727720960_n

SAA – Richmond

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TEAM STACEY HITS $1 MILLION FUNDRAISING MARK

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TEAM STACEY will be swimming together and fundraising for the 10th year in 2018 at SAA-Sound to Cove in memory of Stacey Rose Leondis. This year, TEAM STACEY will pass the $1 million fundraising mark as a team in addition to being the top overall fundraising team across the country in 2017.

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According to family, Stacey was a beautiful, smart and exuberant young woman.  Stacey was diagnosed with osteosarcoma when she was 16 years old and passed away at the young age of 23.  During those seven years, she graduated high school, graduated Yale University and was accepted to Mount Sinai medical school.

Ellen Leondis, Stacey’s mother, on the impact SAA has had: “Being part of the SAA family has allowed us to continue Stacey’s fight for a cure and celebrate her inspirational life.”

Pam Danbusky, a Nassau-Suffolk Committee member shared her memory of Stacey and why she swims: “I swim for Stacey Rose.  Someone I wanted to be like, someone younger who I looked up to, someone who I wish was still here.  If we were all more like Stacey the world would be a better place.  I swim to keep her legacy and beauty alive in this world.”

Swim Across America salutes TEAM STACEY for all their hard work fundraising in her memory and look forward to celebrating the next $1 million raised and the impact it will have! You can donate to TEAM STACEY today to help fight this dreaded disease.

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SAA FAMILY TREE (JUNE 2018)

Posted on Posted in #DefeatCancer, Events, Family Tree, Fundraising, Labs, News, olympians, UncategorizedTagged , , , Leave a comment

SAA Family Tree is a monthly focus on stories that display the impact all the members of the Swim Across America family have both locally and nationally. If you have a story or link you’d like to share, please send here.

SAA – Atlanta

SAA – Denver

  • The inaugural event gets primetime coverage with Event Director Nicole Vanderpoel on 9 NEWS

SAA – Baltimore

SAA – Boston

  • Board Member Pam Ryan is featured for her participation with Olympians in the upcoming Boston Harbor Swim!

 

SAA Debuts WaveMaker Backpack gift for 2018

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Swim Across America is excited to celebrate our 31st year with a Swim Across America-branded backpack for all participants that hit the WaveMaker fundraising goal.

This is your chance to go the extra mile and join the exclusive WaveMaker club to show your SAA pride year-round. Featuring a timeless design, the official 2018 WaveMaker backpack offers functionality and style including a laptop sleeve and tons of storage compartments for all your needs. Don’t forget to show your SAA swagwith buttons available for the first time. Register today and set your fundraising goal to WaveMaker!

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Other highlights of the backpack include:

  • Large, zippered main compartment
  • Interior multi-function organizer sized to fit up to an iPhone 6S plus
  • Easy access padded laptop pocket (fits up to a 15” laptop)
  • Front zippered pocket to store a tablet (fits up to a 10” tablet with a case)
  • Dual elastic water bottle pockets
  • Padded, adjustable shoulder straps
  • Neoprene top grab handle
  • Sport mesh padded back panels for cool and dry comfort

Fundraising Made Easy: Facebook Integration Now Live for SAA

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Swim Across America is making fundraising easier through social media!

You can now link your Swim Across America fundraising page directly with Facebook. Once you register for your SAA charity swim, you can directly link your personal Swim Across America fundraising page to Facebook. You’ll be able to easily spread the word, collect donations and track your progress on Facebook. All donations through Facebook will be received by SAA and reflected in your fundraising thermometer!

How To Connect Your Fundraiser to Facebook:

1. Log in to your participant center.

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2. Click on MY EVENTS in the top menu and choose the event(s) you’d like to connect.

3. In the middle of the page, click ‘Connect to Facebook Fundraisers.’

 

3. You will be redirected to Facebook to enter your login information.

4. Success! After you connect your Facebook profile, you can view your fundraiser. Click on “Go to Facebook Fundraiser.”

 

Swim Across America Facebook

5. If you’d like, edit your fundraising information and details specific to your participation.

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6.  Promote your fundraiser by sharing a post on your timeline or inviting friends and family to your fundraising page.

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This new Facebook integration allows you to spread the word of your fundraising efforts and reach more people quicker and easier then ever before. For questions about using fundraisers on Facebook scroll down to the bottom part of our FAQ page.

Log in and get started now!

Swim Across America Awards an Additional $100,000 to Fight Cancer

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Swim Across America, a 501(c)3 that hosts charity swims with a purpose of granting the proceeds to fund cancer research, is pleased to announce it is awarding a $50,000 grant to Dr. Robyn Gartrell of Columbia University Medical Center and a $50,000 grant to Dr. Julie Saba of UC Children’s Hospital Oakland. The awarding of these two grants is a result of additional fundraising that was received in 2017 and is in addition to the $4,891,422 that SAA awarded for 2018 to its beneficiaries.

Since it’s founding in 1987, SAA charity swims have funded more than $75 million to cancer research. SAA grant researchers have developed multiple FDA approved immunotherapies, gene therapy and personalized therapy treatments. Over 1.6 million Americans are diagnosed with cancer every year. Because of SAA grants, oncologists have been able to conduct research that otherwise wouldn’t have been funded and more families have hope in the fight against cancer.

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Dr. Robyn Gartrell at SAA–Long Island

Dr. Gartrell will use her grant to study childhood brain tumors, including high-grade glioma (HGG), the most aggressive type of brain cancer in children. New treatment methods using the immune system, called immunotherapies, offer promise for helping to treat HGG in children. Dr. Gartrell’s team will study specific immune cells in and around HGG to determine the best approach in applying immunotherapy to this devastating disease.

Julie Saba and Rob Goldsby lab coats
 

 Dr. Julie Saba at SAA–San Francisco

 

Dr. Saba will use her grant to study a cancer-related gene (AF1q) first identified in an infant with leukemia. Some types of cancers have high AF1q levels, and patient outcomes are worse in AF1q-positive tumors and leukemia. Scientists have concluded that AF1q is a “genetic driver” of cancer. The proposed project and SAA grant funding will compare the protein profiles on the surface of cancer cells either containing or lacking AF1q. By doing so, Dr. Saba expects to identify proteins that act as surrogate markers of AF1q expression that could be targeted by immune therapy. It is hoped that this study will move closer to developing a cure for cancers in which AF1q is a genetic driver.

Best of 2017 Beneficiary Check Presentations

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Swim Across America celebrated the end of the year across the country by presenting checks to our esteemed beneficiaries. Here is a collection of smiling faces as the hard fundraising work is now seeing its impact multiplied in the fight against cancer.

SAA – Tampa at Moffitt Cancer Center

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SAA – Chicago at Rush University Medical Center

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SAA – Long Island Sound at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian

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SAA – Nantucket at Nantucket Cottage Hospital

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SAA – Charlotte at Levine Cancer Institute

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SAA – Baltimore at Johns Hopkins Medicine

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SAA – Atlanta at Aflac Cancer & Blood Disorders Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta 

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SAA – San Francisco at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute

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Make a Donation with Stock

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Stock to Charity ImageSwim Across America accepts stock, mutual and index fund donations. As long as you’ve held a stock, mutual or index fund for 12-months, these donations aren’t subject to gains on the appreciation from when you purchased. SAA sells the stock, mutual or index funds once we receive it and the proceeds are applied per your donation wishes. We will provide you with a donation acknowledgment so that your tax advisor can help you with the valuation and deductibility of your gift.

For more information on donating stock, mutual and index funds contact SAA CEO Rob Butcher or phone 980-368-0188.

Swim Across America Posts 2018 Schedule

Posted on Posted in #DefeatCancer, Events, Fundraising, News, olympians, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Swim Across America is excited to announce  its 2018 open water schedule. After a record-setting 2017 that saw $4.8 million granted to cancer research, SAA will be expanding to 18 full-scale open water charity swims. Denver and Richmond join the fold as new swims and Charleston-Kiawah will expand from its original clinic/short-distance concept. Check out the schedule below, register and help SAA #makewaves to fight cancer in 2018! Direct link is here.

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SAA CELEBRATES RECORD-BREAKING YEAR IN ORLANDO

Posted on Posted in #DefeatCancer, Corporate Partners, Events, Fundraising, merck, News, olympiansTagged , , , Leave a comment

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Members of the Swim Across America family came together in Orlando at Rosen Plaza for the Champions Against Cancer Summit this October 11-13.

Board Members, Event Directors, Olympians and Oncologists joined the national SAA staff to celebrate a record-breaking 2017 and the $3 million charitable contribution to SAA from Merck.

CHAMPIONS AGAINST CANCER WELCOME RECEPTION

See how many faces you recognize in this fun collection from the reception.

CHAMPIONS AGAINST CANCER SUMMIT

We were honored to have some of the country’s leading oncologists speak as well as plenty of SAA leaders. You can see some of the excitement from the Merck announcement in this album.

Thursday morning presenters included Dr. Taha Mexghoub (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center), Dr. Paul DiSilvestro (Women & Infants Hospital), Dr. Jeff Borgia (Rush University Medical Center), Dr. Lynda Vrooman (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute)

The surprise Merck charitable contribution was celebrated by special Olympian guests Rowdy Gaines, Steve Lundquist, Janel Jorgensen McArdle, Heather Petri, Ryan Berube, Eric Wunderlich, George DiCarlo and Craig Beardsley

The afternoon session featured Dr. Carlos Becerra (Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center at Dallas), Polona Safaric (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), Dr. Julie Saba, (UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco), Dr. Marc Symons (Feinstein Institute of North Shore) and Dr. Jonathan Gerber (Levine Cancer Institute of Carolinas Healthcare System).

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Friday presenters included Dr. Jim Garvin (New York-Presbyterian Columbia University Medical Center), Dr. Douglas K. Graham (Aflac Cancer & Blood Disorders Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Children and Emory University), Dr. Shari Pilon-Thomas (Moffitt Cancer Center), Dr. Damon Reed (Moffitt Cancer Center) and Dr. Richard Garlic (University of Texas MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital).