ESPY Speech
Jim Valvano announced the beginning of the V Foundation for Cancer Research during his unforgettable speech at the ESPYS on March 4, 1993.
His message was simple: Cancer research needs our support.
While our lives are filled today with stories of cancer patients we love, imagine a world tomorrow without cancer. Without cancer patients. Without lives being stolen.
That world is possible tomorrow only by funding cancer research today. Cancer research saves lives today and provides hope for the future. Today’s research leads to the standard treatment of care tomorrow. There are more ideas than funding, meaning there is zero waste in any of your dollars.
Jim passed shortly after his speech, but his words, his spirit, his optimism, his presence live on.
Since its inception, the V Foundation has awarded over $310 million in cancer research, totaling almost 1,200 grants overall. Vetted by our esteemed Scientific Advisory Committee, we fund the best researchers at the top National Cancer Institute Designated facilities. Those minds – driving the future of cancer research – have helped create 18 million cancer survivors in the U.S. They’ve helped decrease the cancer death rate by 32% since the early 1990s. They’ve helped develop a blood test for the early detection of multiple cancers.
That’s the power of cancer research.
“Nothing can happen if it’s not first a dream. If you have someone with a dream, if you have a motivated person with a goal and a vision, if you have someone who never gives up, who has great hope, anything can happen.” – Jim Valvano
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