BEEZ FOUNDATION Information

The Beez Foundation was created to raise money to support pediatric brain cancer research projects, related support activities for pediatric patients in cancer hospitals and education regarding the prevalence of pediatric brain cancer. The Beez Foundation was organized to honor Jennifer Beisswanger ("bees-wang-er"), daughter of Susan and Joseph Giardina. At the age of 22, Jennifer died of complications from brain cancer. Jennifer's life was difficult on both a physical and a personal level, but she never let life's hardships get her down for long. She always would go out of her way to help other people, trying to make their lives a little easier. At 18 years of age, when her brain tumor was detected, she left her hospital bed in the middle of the night to offer help to an elderly woman experiencing great pain. This was the essence of Jennifer. Jennifer's greatest joy was when she was working with children. She worked as a camp counselor in the summer and while she awaited her chemotherapy treatments, she volunteered at the local hospital to work with the pediatric dialysis patients. The primary goal of the Foundation is to annually identify and target key areas in the field of children's brain cancer research and patient services that are presently underfunded. The Foundation consists of an Advisory Board which offers recommendations to the Board of Trustees. The Advisory Board consists of Jennifer's friends, local business executives and doctors from the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Robert Wood Johnson Hospital. The Advisory Board members offer the Foundation a diverse outlook on community and medical needs. The hospitals, represented by doctors on the Advisory Board, will submit annual requests for funding of specific projects. The goal of the Foundation is to be self-reliant from the beginning. Volunteers will be used for assistance in operating the various events. The Board of Trustees will serve in a non-paid capacity. There are no plans to create any paid ...