March 2021

Dear Friends,

My Irish family has a saying that didn’t mean much to me when I was young: “There is no luck except where there is discipline.” Throughout my career, those words have taken on new layers of meaning.

Over the past year, our organization, like our country, has had to make many changes in order to adapt to our circumstances. Most of our decisions were intentional and some were serendipitous, but the choice to see them through has involved discipline. I am extremely proud of and grateful for the team we have put together, our supportive Board of Trustees and the medical professionals we work with to bring cancer clinical trials to patients in their own communities.

Last year before the pandemic broke and COVID wasn’t yet part of our lexicon, our leadership team created a work environment that allowed our staff to work from home if their life circumstances warranted it. Little did we know all of our lives would dictate working remotely! On March 13th, 2020, we went everyone home with all their office supplies, thinking we would be back together in the near future. Little did we know…

Discipline has kept us safe and allowed us to retain a sense of camaraderie despite being dispersed. We still do our work with commitment and compassion, and we stay connected because of intentionality and our care for one another. Making it through 2020 with grace was not possible because of luck or happenstance, it was possible because of discipline.

Sláinte (good health to you),