Thank you to all those who have donated to Brain Matters for the purpose of promoting medical research and public awareness for brain cancer. We so appreciate your support! We’re now in the process of thinking and dreaming about our next Fall Fundraiser! If you wish to DONATE any other times to BRAIN MATTERS, just CLICK HERE! Thank you in advance!
“Brain Matters” has been created to bring awareness to the public about brain tumors-this couldn’t be more personal to me. My name is Heidi Gottlieb and I was diagnosed with a brain tumor 34 years ago; at that time I was told it was benign, but it turned out to be cancerous. I then had two brain surgeries, and two rounds of radiation. There are advances made in medicine every day. As a patient you learn that one of the most important things may be that while your greatest wish is to be cured, it may be just as important to stay alive long enough to take advantage of the medical advances that happen in the future until you can be cured. There are many people that don’t get that chance-I have been, and as long as I have it, I will try and shine a light on a subject that I believe is darker than it should be.
That’s why on October 1st 2011, I began Walking Miles 4 Brain Matters. I started walking from Port Washington, NY to Mass General Hospital’s Francis H. Burr Proton Therapy Center where I had been treated. We stopped at schools along the way, where we walked with the kids at those schools in support of the cause; we helped enlighten them about the need for more funding, more medical research and early detection for brain tumors. The parents as well as the people in the towns we stopped at were welcome to walk with us. You can click on the Itinerary of the Walk under The Walk to see where I was on each day, as I walked along the Boston Post Road throughout that month of October. We filmed much of the walk, which will include its preparation, the people we met along the route and their stories-some of these people have had family members who’ve had brain tumors or they’ve had a brain tumor themselves. Much of the time I stayed at people’s houses, so as to save the funds that have been raised. Some of these people were people I’ve known for over 34 years, some of them were people I’ve never met…again, this was part of the story and we filmed it, and took many photographs. We filmed up until I arrived at Mass General Hospital in Boston on November 1st of last year. I also “vlogged” almost every day while I was on the road, if you want to check this out go to My Vlog. I’m done walking now, but the road does not end there, I continue to raise awareness for a very important cause, I have many ideas I’m working on…stay tuned. Please donate, and help be a shining light. Thank you”
Heidi Gottlieb, Founder & Director
I would like to say something else…Brain Matters is a relatively small charity, we’re the “little engine that could”, and it wouldn’t have been or continue to be possible without the support of volunteers, friends, and friends of friends. Thank you so very much to those of you that have helped with your suggestions, your referrals, and your generosity in the form of information, donations and in-kind gifts that have helped us continue to fight the fight. The walk that I did to bring awareness to the cause and the annual fundraisers we’ve put together would not have been possible without the contributions we’ve received. I know you’ve been with me every step of the way…and one last huge thank you to Ted Glass, who created the Brain Matters website. Ted helped me when I was in all different towns along my walk with regard to posting things and web advice…without him, far less people would even know Brain Matters was out here.