CHEST Foundation Donor Spotlight December 2018 | Page 4

CHEST FOUNDATION AT CHEST 2018 RECAP
We want to thank all of you for a
resoundingly successful CHEST Annual
Meeting in San Antonio! Over the course
of the meeting, your support of the CHEST
Foundation through Dollars for Denim
Day and cash donations at CHEST 2018
totaled over $17,200 to support the CHEST
Foundation’s mission-based programming.
A HUGE thank you to the sponsors of our
Dollars for Denim Day event, Mallinckrodt
and The National Board of Respiratory Care,
for their partnership on expanding this
new program.
Dollars for
DENIM
DAY
u
o
y
k
n
a
Th
all for your continued support
of the CHEST Foundation!
BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS
This year’s Breakfast of Champions, a traditional celebration
at the annual meeting honoring CHEST Foundation research,
community service, and travel grant winners, featured brief
addresses from incoming CHEST Foundation President Doreen
Addrizzo-Harris, MD, FCCP; last year’s asthma research grant
awardee, Drew Harris, MD; and a CHEST Foundation Community
Service Grant champion, Robert McCaffree, MD, Master FCCP. Dr.
Harris shared with this year’s grant winners that his 2017 CHEST
Foundation grant in asthma helped pave the way for him to apply
for and ultimately secure NIH funding for his project on creating
a medical-legal partnership to address asthma health disparities
in rural populations. “The CHEST Foundation grant essentially got
me started and gave me strong credibility at my new institution,
University of Virginia,” Harris shared with the audience. “The grant
I received last year funded a pilot version of my project that I then
was able to share with a larger audience.”
Your support of the CHEST Foundation directly impacts our
ability to offer a wide array of grant opportunities for clinicians.
From clinical research studies and community service projects to
providing travel funds for clinicians so they can attend the annual
meeting—your donations support clinicians like Dr. Harris—and
invest in the ongoing training of lung health champions!
DE C E MBER 2018
“Sometimes I sit back and look at my
30-year career and wonder if I have
really contributed. Yes, my work as
a physician has helped countless
people and my full-time job now
in critical care has certainly had its
moments but that is what I get paid
to do. So really, am I doing any more
than anyone who does a good job in
their profession. I answer myself no.
So, what have I contributed?
I realize now that what we do when
we are not at work can sometimes
be the most rewarding. My time
volunteering for charitable causes
is what makes it all worthwhile.
When I look back at the last 5
years as a Trustee for the CHEST
Foundation, one of the highlights
has been our grass roots efforts at
raising awareness of lung health.
Sitting in places like San Antonio,
Chicago and Toronto watching
people in the community come to
have basic spirometry performed
by my fellow colleagues and friends
makes me truly understand that we
make a difference, especially since
this may never be something these
community members have had the
opportunity to do. If one person
quits smoking, gets their asthma
treated or gets the support they
need from our local disease specific
societies, then we made a difference.
Better yet, we did it because we care.
How can you not love being part of
something this great?”
—Robert De Marco, MD, FCCP
CHEST Foundation Board of Trustees