Second Physician Assistant Gala Raises Over $18,000 for Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund

Assumption’s Physician Assistant (PA) Program welcomed students, faculty, families, sponsors, and community partners to its second annual Charity Gala on September 25, raising funds and support for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund. The event has raised over $18,600, and the fundraiser remains open for donations through the end of October. Last year’s event raised over $13,000 for the Make a Wish Foundation.

This year’s event was organized by PA Student Society philanthropy co-chairs Emily Dash and Annabelle Tanger, both members of the Class of 2028. Over many months, they ran fundraisers, secured local sponsors, and coordinated the gala, all during the program’s demanding didactic year.

“Rather than focusing on what cancer has taken from us, tonight we come together to fight back and provide hope, support, and the promise of a bright future,” Dash said in her opening remarks, honoring family members and loved ones affected by cancer, including her parents, who have both been battling the disease this past year, her grandmother, and Tanger’s grandmother.

Dash and Tanger then thanked PA Program Manager Jacqué Chlapowski, the PA faculty, their classmates, and the local businesses and organizations that donated items, experiences, food, and services, including Polar Beverages, Holmes-Shusas Florist, and the Worcester Railers. Guests bid on prizes in a silent auction, with 100 percent of proceeds going to Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund. 

“This gala represents the work of our entire program, and we truly appreciate all of your support,” Tanger said. 

Rebecca Hassel, director of didactic education and faculty advisor to the PA Student Society, reflected on what the evening said about the profession. 

“This evening represents something much larger than a fundraising event,” she said. “It reflects the foundation of our university, the spirit of charity, service, and giving beyond oneself that echoes Assumption’s Catholic mission. And, perhaps most importantly for all of us gathered here tonight, it reflects the very spirit of the physician assistant profession.” 

She noted that the PA profession was born more than 60 years ago from a need to expand access to care and a need to serve, and that the students’ work reflects that calling.

“There is no exam attached to tonight. There are no points in the gradebook. Our students chose to do this,” she said, in reference to putting together the event.

Christopher Ferreira, the PA program director, spoke about the importance of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund, saying that their mission is one that resonates with everyone in healthcare. 

“Nearly all of us know someone whose life has been touched by cancer,” he said. “When we think about cancer care, we often think first about the extraordinary science behind it. But at the center of all of that science is a person.

“That is why the work of Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund is so important. It represents not only the pursuit of better treatments and cures, but also a commitment to caring for patients and families throughout that journey. That combination is something we hope our students carry into their own careers,” he continued. 

Ferreira additionally said the program’s young age gives its students a unique opportunity. “They aren’t simply participating in the traditions of an established program. They are creating them,” he said, expressing hope that this lasting tradition will be a commitment to asking, “How can we serve?”

President Greg Weiner congratulated the organizers, noting that the students’ galas have together raised nearly $30,000, and observed that once an event enters its second year, it “stops being ‘something we tried’ and officially becomes ‘something we do.’” 

Weiner drew on the parable of the Good Samaritan and on the Catholic and Jewish traditions of comforting the sick to emphasize the importance of the work of both PA students and the organizations they are supporting.

“The most powerful thing medicine can offer, even when a cure is years away, is the refusal to leave anyone at the side of the road,” He said, adding that the students embody the kind of practitioner Assumption sets out to form: one who treats “a person, and not simply a diagnosis.”

“Whatever they raise this year will be just one of many ways these students spend their careers refusing to leave people at the wayside,” Weiner continued. 

Fred Jeffries, a physician assistant in inpatient medical oncology at Dana-Farber and instructional faculty in Assumption’s PA program, delivered the keynote address, titled “What Makes Hope Possible”. Jeffries traced the institution’s roots to Sidney Farber’s 1947 trials of aminopterin, which produced temporary remissions in 10 of 16 children with leukemia and showed that a drug could drive the disease into remission. With the help and funding of members of the Variety Club of New England, Farber’s clinic eventually became the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Jeffries then spoke about Einar Gustafson, known to America as “Jimmy”, a child being treated for lymphoma. Jimmy became part of a radio fundraiser to help purchase him a television so he could watch his favorite baseball team. In total, more than $200,000 was raised—about $2.7 million in today’s dollars. These were the roots of the Jimmy Fund, which has since become a key part of Dana-Farber. He closed by pointing to today’s emerging therapies, from targeted drugs and cancer vaccines to cell therapies, noting that the distance between a gift and a cure is often measured in generations.

Tanger closed the evening with gratitude. “Thank you to every single person here tonight. Whether you donated, helped us fundraise, sponsored our event, volunteered your time, or simply chose to spend your evening here supporting us. We are so grateful.” 

Donations to the fundraiser can be made here through the end of the month.