I started The Summer Hope Foundation in 2002 when I was twenty-one years old, as a one-time fundraiser to raise money for the American Cancer Society. At that age, cancer had already invaded my life, and I wanted to honor those I knew who had been affected by cancer – specifically my best friend’s little brother, Steven who lost has battle with leukemia at the age of sixteen, and my aunt, Annie, a breast cancer survivor. I was a college student, like any other, concerned with things like finals, girls and beer money. I thought the best way to support this cause would be to do what I had become so good at: Throw a party.
That one-time benefit grew into a federally recognized, award winning non-profit organization which has helped countless people in the New York area and across the country. Now the Summer Hope Benefit is the highlight of our year, with numerous other fundraising events happening year-round which has allowed us to donate thousands of dollars to various cancer research facilities searching for a cure to cancer, as well as, start our internal programs which seek to provide moments of hope to those who must endure the cancer experience.
The Summer Hope Foundation isn’t like your typical non-profit organization – we are 100% volunteer driven, run by an extended network of family and friends, who have been touched by cancer. Our events more closely resemble a (sometimes rowdy) get together with close friends – our benefit more akin to Christmas in your family’s living room. Once you donate to Summer Hope, you not only become a supporter of a great organization, with a great cause – you become a member of the Summer Hope family.
On a personal note, starting the Summer Hope Foundation has become the center of my life. It has brought me closer to my family and friends, and created more new relationships than I could ever describe. After Steven died in 1999, a few weeks prior to my high school graduation, I was kind of lost. He was like a little brother to me, and I didn’t know what to do in a world that could cause that much grief to so many people I cared for. In his death, the entire direction of my life changed. It’s not like at career day in Elementary School, when kids were saying that they wanted to be a police officer or lawyer or astronaut, I was saying that I wanted to run a health based non-profit organization to support the ongoing fight against cancer. And to be fair, it wasn’t until my aunt, my Tanti Annie, fought her cancer with grace, determination and such unbelievable beauty, that I got any inkling that there was something more than pain and loss to be found in the cancer experience. In turn, I started The Summer Hope Foundation, and pursued a full-time career in non-profit organization, which led me to the motherland of cancer non-profits: A job at the American Cancer Society, where I am currently employed as a Director of Special Events.
What you provide for myself and for all of those in the scope of Summer Hope’s reach, is the belief that if we can just provide enough moments of hope in this enduring battle against cancer, one day, one tomorrow, will be cancer free. And for that glimpse of a cancer-free future, I thank you on behalf of anyone who has been touched by cancer.
Yours In Hope,
Edward B. Mouradian, Jr.
Founder/Executive Director – The Summer Hope Foundation
