Hoping for Oprah

On January 24th, 2008, Shannon Meltz, mother of 2 year old Hailey (JPA), was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey as she sat in the audience to watch a taping of the Oprah Winfrey show.  Shannen explained to Oprah, and her entire audience, about PLGA and the need for new research and funding.  Oprah asked how she could help, and Shannon answered, 'Please do a story on the PLGA kids and the fight that the PLGA families have to under take in order to get new research, treatments and a cure."   Oprah said she would consider a story of this nature.

Please help us encourage Oprah to make this a reality.   Go to the Oprah site and request that they do a show on the PLGA Foundation, Hailey Meltz and the other families fighting this same battle.

Obviously you can and should craft your own message, but a few suggestions or important points to consider:

  • It would be good to have the same title for all messages.  Something like “Hailey Meltz and the PLGA Foundation (www.fightplga.org)”
  • You may want to say that Hailey’s mom, Shannon, was at the show Thursday January 24th and stood up after the show to tell Oprah and the audience about our cause, and that the stage manager took our business card and a copy of the newspaper article from Shannon.
  • PLGA is the most common form of childhood brain tumor.  Brain tumors are the #1 cause of solid tumor deaths in children.
  • There are no known cures and current treatments often leave children with permanent neurological and gross motor defecits, if they survive.
  • There has been little research on PLGA in the past 20 years because there is little funding.
  • The PLGA Foundation, recently launched (2007) was created by families with PLGA kids in order to raise significant funds and jump start promising research.   These families have already raised over $6 million and has allocated over $3.8 million for 7 new research projects and the launch of the first ever dedicated PLGA Researh Program at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
  • But there is still so much more that needs to be done.  The PLGA Foundation is trying to unite families from across the world to leverage knowledge, resources and support for all families afflicted with this type of tumor.
  • This is a grassroots effort.  A story about families and communities taking matters into their own hands, trying to move heaven and earth to save their children.  And the children themselves, suffering, battling the unthinkable, desperately needing a cure so that they get the chance to fight for their dreams, NOT for their lives.