Mitch Albom To Be Featured Speaker At Natalie's Wish Fundraiser
February 12, 2009
Mitch Albom, author of all-time bestselling memoir “Tuesdays With Morrie” and nationally acclaimed newspaper columnist and radio and television personality, is scheduled as the headliner at this year’s Natalie’s Wish fundraising event for the Cystinosis Research Foundation.
The eighth-annual Natalie’s Wish fundraiser is slated for Friday, May 8, at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach, Calif.
Cystinosis is a rare genetic, metabolic and slowly fatal disease that afflicts about 500 people, mostly children, in the United States. CRF is the world’s largest non-profit provider of funds for cystinosis research. Because the cost of CRF’s operations and fundraising activities is privately underwritten, 100 percent of all donations directly support medical research dedicated to finding improved treatments and a cure for cystinosis.
Since 2003 CRF has funded research studies and fellowships totaling more than $6.9 million. CRF-funded research, which has produced improved treatments, is under way in France, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium and the United States. Last year’s Natalie’s Wish event raised $1.8 million.
“We are honored this year to have Mitch Albom as our featured speaker,” said Nancy Stack, president and co-founder of the CRF.
“His books, including ‘Tuesdays With Morrie,’ and their lessons in the meaning of life and about dealing with searing emotional and personal challenges have inspired millions. The messages in his books are consistent with our theme this year, which is: One More Day – Celebrating Life, Love and Hope. We are looking forward to a wonderful evening,” she said.
Albom’s “Tuesdays With Morrie” is about his reunion and frequent visits with an ailing former college professor. It sold 11 million copies. His other books, including bestsellers “Five People You Meet In Heaven” and “For One More Day,” have sold 15 million copies.
Albom’s accomplishments go beyond bestselling author.
In addition to having written two plays and founded three charities, Albom is a highly respected sports writer and columnist for The Detroit News. He is a panelist on ESPN’s “The Sports Reporters” and a weekly commentator for ESPN radio. Albom also is an accomplished songwriter who briefly earned his living as a singer and jazz pianist.
A Philadelphia native, Albom graduated from Brandeis University, majoring in sociology. He earned master’s degrees in journalism and business administration from Columbia University in New York. He is married and resides in Franklin, Mich.
Fundraiser Named For Natalie Stack
The Natalie’s Wish fundraiser is named for cystinosis sufferer Natalie Stack, 17, of Corona del Mar. She is one of only about 500 in the United States and 2,000 worldwide.
Her father, Jeff, a managing partner of the SARES•REGIS Group of Irvine, is prominent in the Southern California real estate industry and is a past chairman of the National Multi Housing Council.
Jeff and his wife, Nancy, established the Cystinosis Research Foundation of Irvine in 2003 after learning on Natalie’s 12th birthday that she had a secret wish: “To have my disease go away forever.” Natalie’s plea motivated the Stacks to launch a campaign to aggressively fund research aimed at treating and curing the disease.
Disease Attacks The Body’s Organs
In patients with cystinosis the amino acid cystine accumulates in the tissue due to the inability of the body to transport cystine out of the cell. Over a period of years, the cystine damages various organs including the kidneys, liver, muscles, white blood cells, eyes and central nervous system. Other complications occur that include muscle wasting and difficulty swallowing. As the cystine accumulates in the cells, the various organs slowly deteriorate.
Fortunately, the drug cysteamine slows the progression of cystinosis by removing the cystine from cells, but for the drug treatment to be effective, it must be taken every six hours. Although this has led to a much better future for these children, cysteamine is not a cure.
For more information about Natalie’s Wish and the Cystinosis Research Foundation of Irvine, Calif., call Zoe Solsby at (949) 223-7610 or visit www.cystinosisresearch.org.
