Reflecting Community Needs

Explaining the financial woes of the San Diego Symphony, the mayor explained that non-profits must operate pertinent to the needs of the communities they serve. The tax code gives citizens the option to direct some of their taxes to a non-profit organization, or foundation, to further its mission. These gifts become tax deductible contributions based on an individual’s age and income. In certain cases, the tax deduction may be spread over three to five years. If the IRS had not opened this tax exempt sector (now three times larger than the forprofit sector), all of the tax dollar would go to federal programs determined by Congress, such as national defense, education, highway, health and welfare . . . and yes, "pork-barrels."

Project Outreach is positioned to serve all individuals, through a mission of volunteer caring, outreach, education, screening, and advocacy. Volunteers will go out into the community as speakers, identifying the community "communicator" in many instances, and working with that individual to provide and encourage breast care education, information, screening, and advocacy. The volunteers will not be running marathons or staging banquets instead the work and hours spent on special events will be in direct service to others – some out of easy reach of a city, hospitals, or physicians.

The community organizations Project Outreach will collaborate with are dedicated to the "working poor," and our brothers and sisters who have little or no access to information for a number of reasons. How can that be? We have marathons, banquets, and pass out information. Herein I quote, Mark Fauci, President & CEO of Omnicorder Technology, Inc., (http://www.omnicorder.com), responsible for the Bio Scan, a technology that has arisen out of Star Wars and is developed at the Jet Propulsion Lab and Cal Tech, with a complete cost of only $1/4M. BioScan requires no special room, maybe 10’x10,’ and they have designed a small unit for use in smaller centers and for mobile unit applications which has a communication system able to transmit images back to a surgeon or radiologist in seconds! It was approved by the FDA in December 1999 and detects cancer cells as soon as nitric oxide can be detected; years before any other technology out today; it is a new technology! ". . . until we are properly funded, ramp-up will be very slow. I know people have a hard time understanding why the funding situation is so slow and painful. If I wasn't doing it everyday I would too. Fact is, it is much easier and faster to invest in a Dot-Com-Something than a medical device company. Just ask all of your wealthy friends where they are investing their money. The sobering statistics are, according to PriceWaterhouseCoopers, in the fourth quarter, in my neck of the woods - New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey together reported a total of 94 venture capital investment deals - about 70% of them Internet related investments. NOT A SINGLE deal was with a medical device company. Nationally over $14.6 BILLION dollars was invested in venture
deals during the same quarter representing 1271 deals. Only 69 were with some type of medical device company and not a single one was related to cancer imaging. Raising money for a young company is always hard - and as my industry goes we are pretty good at it. But the fact is that, as far as the investor and the financial world is concerned, developing and commercializing new breast cancer imaging systems is of very little apparent value. These are, no doubt, the same wealthy and influential women and men showing up at all of the fund raisers and cocktail parties and marathons thumping their chest and wondering why someone doesn't do something about breast cancer. . . . . Many, all smoke - no fire. There are thousands like them apparently. As Mark Twain once said - everybody complains about the weather but nobody does anything about it. I don't know what else I can say."

Mark Fauci is totally dedicated to fighting cancer, and the Bio Scan is incredible BUT not only for breast cancer.  The trials were on skin and bone cancers, and nothing changes the fact that it picks up the beginning cellular changes. It is now being used at Dana Farber, Sloan-Kettering, and NYU Stony Brook, and NYU/NYC even in trials to be able to observe and track angiogenesis, among other trials.

From my modest inquiries and analysis this is par around our nation; however, it does appear that California is taking the lead with investment dollars into biomedical, and the east coast - in dot coms!

So we must make up a lack, and that is exactly what the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, and many states tax codes, have given us the opportunity to do. In black and white: tax dollars may be dedicated to create such entities and Missions such as health care, that qualify under the Code. Therefore, we may serve the working poor, and the indigent, and medical technology, and we must..

But, what does that mean? Low-wage employees? Out of work individuals? It means, simply, that an individual, through no fault of their own, has experienced an incident which caused economic hardship, such as loss of employment, or illness. Yet, these individuals had previously been fiscally responsible. That does not mean they had to be low income prior to their need. Just working, and willing to continue working, once the incident was over, and employment could continue, or a new job secured. And, hopefully, back into the community with greater zest, and new knowledge.

Can our caring outreach services provide long-term solutions? Yes, they can. Project Outreach visualizes its services as the rung on the ladder which will provide our neighbors with healthcare consumer information, advocate for them in becoming actively involved in not only their health care but that of others in their community. Without health, individuals cannot work, cannot attend school, or learn, and cannot be self-sufficient.

Project Outreach will be collaborating with other agencies and physicians to work toward full service and care to everyone. It is a goal - to maintained and facilitate services not duplicate them. We will also come across situations when one of us needs to go one step further, in order to help shoring up a low food supply, or to coordinate services with the programs already in place to complement Project Outreach, without duplication.

Magic happens when something is written down! Our volunteers will encourage writing plans, writing down information the people we serve know about their health, and that of family members, and where they had examinations and/or radiology services before. And then the steps that have to be taken to become an assertive, wise healthcare consumer, and actively working with one’s chosen team. The last thing that most adults think, has to become their modus operandi: Take care of yourself, and you will be able to care for your children . . . meaning, good health is consistent with caring for oneself, and for others.