The Jimmy Fund, established in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

in 1948, is made up of community-based fundraising events and other programs that benefit Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Since 1948, millions of people have given money to the Jimmy Fund to help save lives and reduce the burden of cancer for patients and families worldwide. The Jimmy Fund holds fundraising events including Jimmy Fund Golf, the nation's oldest and largest charity golf program, and the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk. The Jimmy Fund is an official charity of the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

, the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, the Pan-Mass Challenge, and the Variety Children's Charity of New England.

History

In 1947,

Sidney Farber Sidney Farber (September 30, 1903 – March 30, 1973) was an American pediatric pathologist at Boston Children's Hospital. He is regarded as the father of modern chemotherapy for his work using folic acid antagonists to combat leukemia, which l ...

founded the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in

. The following year he launched the Jimmy Fund to raise money to support the hospital. The fund was named after a patient who was named "Jimmy" to protect his identity – his real name was

Einar Gustafson Einar Gustafson (August 18, 1935 – January 21, 2001) gained fame as a 12-year-old cancer patient when he became nationally known as "Jimmy". The name started a fund-raising program in 1948 known as The Jimmy Fund for the Dana–Farber Cancer ...

and his identity was revealed in 1998. On May 22, 1948, "Jimmy" inspired a movement on ''

Truth or Consequences ''Truth or Consequences'' is an American game show originally hosted on NBC radio by Ralph Edwards (1940–57) and later on television by Edwards (1950–54), Jack Bailey (1954–56), Bob Barker (1956–75), Steve Dunne (1957–58), Bob Hi ...

'', a national radio program hosted by

Ralph Edwards Ralph Livingstone Edwards (June 13, 1913DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 86-87. – November 16, 2005) was an American radio ...

. During the program, "Jimmy" was visited in the hospital by star players from the

Boston Braves The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to History of the Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee, Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). ...

; the visit was arranged by future

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

owner Billy Sullivan. Listeners were moved to act when asked to send in money to buy Jimmy a TV so that he could watch the

. More than $200,000 was raised for the Jimmy Fund that year. Beginning in 1949, some movie theaters began showing a Jimmy Fund trailer before movies and asked audience members to contribute to the fund. The Jimmy Fund’s baseball origins later evolved into a longstanding partnership with the

after the Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1953.Boston Braves team ownership history
SABR (Society for American Baseball Research), Bob LeMoine. In 1980, the Pan-Mass Challenge, a charity bicycle race, was founded to benefit the Jimmy Fund. In 1983, the Jimmy Fund began holding the Scooper Bowl, an ice cream festival, in Boston. Also in 1983, the fund began organizing golf tournaments to raise money. In 1989, the fund began organizing the Jimmy Fund Walk, which runs in conjunction with the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by eight cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was ins ...

. In 2002, the first WEEI Jimmy Fund Radiothon was held. In 2003,

NESN New England Sports Network, popularly known as NESN , is an American regional sports cable and satellite television network owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group (which owns a controlling 80% interest, and is the owner of the Boston ...

joined the event and simulcasted it around New England. In 2013, the Jimmy Fund held its first Big Ideas Contest asking the public to submit new fundraising ideas for the fund.

References

External links

The Jimmy Fund
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jimmy Fund, The Cancer fundraisers Sports charities Charities based in Massachusetts Boston Red Sox Organizations established in 1948 1948 establishments in Massachusetts Boston Braves Cancer charities in the United States Funds