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September 2012

City of Hope: Doing Good Things Close to Home

One of the things that I’m committing myself to is helping out locally whenever possible. It’s good great when we can help anywhere in any capacity but I’ve promised myself that for the time being my giving (both in time and money) will be done close to home.

A short while ago I had the honor of speaking to a group of communicators at the City of Hope in Duarte. The goal is to never need the City of Hope but my Grandmother died there and they helped her not hurt when pancreatic cancer robbed her of everything. After I left the folks at City of Hope practiced a little blog writing and since they don’t have a blog I’ll be publishing some of them here for the next several weeks. I hope you’ll give them a read. They’re good people sharing tough content.

At City of Hope, It’s the People, People
By Darrin Joy, Senior Science Writer (this is the stuff Darrin typically writes)

I know I’ll sound like a company cheerleader writing this, but I really love City of Hope. It’s not perfect, but it’s really, really good. Great, even.

And that greatness stems from one thing: the people who work here.

I’ve been here 20-plus years. I’ve seen buildings torn down and new, state-of-the-art facilities replace them. I’ve seen the acreage increase by what must be at least 50 percent. I’ve seen the City of Duarte renew itself around the campus.

And while all of that is wonderful and helps to make this place such a positive force for patients, ultimately the real soul of this organization is its people. The down-in-the-trenches crew that turns the gears and makes the machine hum.

From the doctors to the research scientists, from the clerical staff to the janitorial crew, and from the nurses to the lab techs, this place is chock full of stellar human beings.

Oh, there may be a few folks who stumble in the door and never quite fit, but they quickly find their way back out the door, and bright-hearted souls come in to take their place.

And I know each person has their down moments, when they may have to struggle a bit to remember themselves and recommit to their jobs, but they always seem to rally back.

They’re what makes this place so extraordinary, and why I think it will be very hard for City of Hope to be anything less than a global force for good in science and health in the next century.

Okay, maybe I am a cheerleader. So what? This place — these people — deserve one.