Preliminary numbers are in and, predictably, Friday’s Ambassador of Hope Gala proved to be a resounding success.
Early counts show more than $1.4 million was raised during the event. The money benefits research at UNMC’s Eppley Cancer Center.
“This year’s Ambassador of Hope Gala was a fantastic event,” said Kenneth Cowan, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center. “The support from the community and from around the state was outstanding and very much appreciated. The money raised will help the Eppley Cancer Center continue its growth toward an NCI (National Cancer Institute) Comprehensive Cancer Center designation.”
Although a final tally has yet to be completed, Dr. Cowan said there was more money raised this year than at any previous Ambassador of Hope gala. The preliminary total includes a $500,000 matching grant from the Peter Kiewit Foundation.
About 1,200 people attended the gala at Omaha’s Qwest Center and satellite celebrations in Norfolk and Sidney each hosted about 125 people, said Jean Bell, general chairman of the Ambassador of Hope Gala.
Preliminary tallies show that about $40,000 was raised in Norfolk and $15,000 was raised in Sidney, Bell said.
A third satellite celebration in Lexington was halted because of technical difficulties, said Ed Burchfield, who helped coordinate the video satellit feeds for the gala. Power lines that had previously worked malfunctioned just before the gala and technicians were unable to fix the lines in time for the celebration, Burchfield said.
The satellite broadcasts marked the first year the gala included celebrations outside of Omaha.
Highlights of the event included the family of the late Harlan Noddle accepting the Marge and Chuck Durham Spirit of Nebraska Award on Noddle’s behalf and a speech by legendary newsman, Tom Brokaw, who also was given the Ambassador of Hope Award for his efforts to fight cancer.
While accepting the award for Noddle, his children, Jay Noddle and Susie Noddle Levine, told the story of the treatment their father received at the medical center during his bout with pancreatic cancer. Harlan Noddle died last December at age 69.
“(Dad) believed in the work being done (at the medical center),” Jay Noddle said.
Brokaw, wearing red UNMC Eppley Cancer Center and yellow Livestrong bracelets, asked the crowd to remember daily the men and women serving overseas and to honor the sacrifices of those in uniform by being actively involved in the debate on national security.
Brokaw, who wrote the “The Greatest Generation” and “The Greatest Generation Speaks,” spoke of the perils and promises of the 21st century. As a television journalist and NBC anchorman, he remembers best, not the marquee names of people he’s interviewed, he said, but the “brave young people” who risked their lives in the civil rights fight, World War II and subsequent wars.
“They gave up comfort…to answer their conscience,” Brokaw said.
He said he hopes his granddaughter one day comes to Omaha to accept the Ambassador of Hope Award and tell the crowd that his generation, too, was “the greatest.”
The event and the money raised was another example of Nebraska’s dedication to fighting cancer, said UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D.
"The event was an overwhelming success," Dr. Maurer said. "Once again Nebraskans showed tremendous support for research at the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center."
The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) Eppley Cancer Center is the region’s most established National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center, receiving its NCI designation in 1983. UNMC is internationally respected as one of the most prolific research and treatment centers for leukemia, lymphoma, and other types of cancers, such as breast, prostate, pancreatic and gastrointestinal. The UNMC Eppley Cancer Center is one of 13 founding members of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the world’s leading cancer centers that develop standards for treating patients. In 2005, UNMC’s hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, was recognized by U.S.News & World Report as one of the top 40 cancer treatment centers in the United States.
UNMC is the only public health science center in the state. Its educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution. Through its commitment to education, research, patient care and outreach, UNMC has established itself as one of the country’s leading centers in cancer, transplantation biology, bioterrorism preparedness, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, genetics, biomedical technology, ophthalmology and arthritis. UNMC’s research funding from external sources is now nearly $80 million annually and has resulted in the creation of more than 2,600 highly skilled jobs in the state. UNMC’s physician practice group, UNMC Physicians, includes more than 460 physicians in 50 specialties and subspecialties. They practice primarily in The Nebraska Medical Center, UNMC’s teaching hospital. For more information, go to UNMC’s Web site at www.unmc.edu.