Greetings

Dear Friends,

As I sit down each year to write this letter, I feel overwhelmed by how much we’ve accomplished since the Boomer Esiason Foundation was launched in 1993. This organization alone has raised almost $45 million in support of the fight against cystic fibrosis, a monstrous and fatal disease that preys on more than 30,000 Americans.

Along the way, we have celebrated several milestones -- the discovery of the defective gene that is the root cause of cystic fibrosis, the development of innovative therapeutics to treat the disease, and the dramatic increase in the median age of survival for people living with CF. There are times when I feel pretty good about these successes; in fact, sometimes it is tempting to allow these victories to make us complacent. But then I receive an e-mail from parents of an infant recently diagnosed with cystic fibrosis or meet a young woman who is recovering from a lung transplant, and I am reminded again of the urgency of our mission.

Our friends at the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation also recognize the critical need for expanded research into better treatments -- and, ultimately, a cure -- for this disease. The CF Foundation recently launched a $175 million major gifts fundraising campaign, the largest in its 50-year history. The chairman of The Milestones to a Cure campaign has noted that the clock is our worst enemy, and I couldn’t agree more. We must be doing all we can to ensure that new therapies for CF are developed as quickly as possible.

I’d like to especially thank our Presenting Sponsors, Travel and Transport and Sony, who saw our need this year and rose to the occasion. Additional recognition to our partners American Airlines, Embassy Suites, TD Ameritrade and Children's Hospital.

Over the past year, we raised many millions of dollars to support vital scientific research. We also continued to directly affect the lives of CF patients around the country through scholarships and grants-in-aid to families confronted with lung transplants. And when the Gulf Coast was devastated by hurricanes last fall, we mobilized quickly to support those in the cystic fibrosis community affected by these disasters.

This event is an opportunity to congratulate ourselves for these successes. But it also should provide us with the focus and energy we will need in the coming year to gain more ground in the ongoing battle against cystic fibrosis. So I ask you once again to re-commit to our mission. We are proud to be working hand in hand with the CF Foundation, with CF families around the country, and with all of you to some day eliminate this disease. And as we look forward to another big year, I promise to continue to fight and to never lose hope that one day, we will beat it.

Enjoy the event,