“Shoot for the stars. Make it $50,000!” It was March 2009. METAvivor was two months old and our founding team was setting up our research program and predicting how much we thought we could raise for our first research grant. Someone had just suggested $25,000 when METAvivor Vice President Rhonda Rhodes made the decisive statement and the goal was set.
We intended to award the grant in January 2010. At the time, we had less than $20,000 but calculated that since grants were paid over the course of the lifetime of the grant, we had two years to raise funds prior to the final payment in January 2011.
And that’s exactly what happened.
Much has changed since then. Fundraising has gone very well and this year we are awarding a minimum of $1,000,000 in grants of $50,000 and $200,000. The number of research proposals that we are receiving has also increased dramatically. In 2016 we received fewer than 75. This year we received close to 200! Moreover, the quality of the proposals received this year is exceptional - we may have as many as 50 applications that would qualify for funding. Therein lies the problem.
Previously we always had the funding needed to ensure all exceptional projects were funded. This year, we cannot. And thus we turn to you, our loyal followers. For the first time, we are making a last minute request during grant review for additional funds. Please help us put out the word. Talk to family friends, connections, corporations, anyone you think might be able to help. Explain our dilemma and the great need to fund as many of these 50 grants as possible.
Thank you for your assistance.
