August 25, 2006

Justin Stanton raises $65,000 for MGH Cancer Center

Justin Stanton is not your typical teenager. At 18-years-old, he has already become a leader in his school and community, a fundraiser on behalf of cancer research and an Eagle Scout. Justin has made these accomplishments with encouragement from his family and most importantly with inspiration from his father, Kenneth Stanton, DMD, who died in 2005 after battling bone cancer.

Justin turned the pain of losing his father into a resolve to help others stricken with the disease. He established the Kenneth Stanton Fund to support orthopædic oncology research at the MGH. In 2005, Justin organized the first annual Kenneth Stanton Walk for Cancer and garnered support from his school and community. As a result of his hard work and determination, the event raised $30,000, which he presented to the MGH Cancer Center last year.

Justin continued the walkathon in 2006 with help from some of his classmates who served on a planning committee. He and his friends built upon the walkathon's success and established the Kenneth Stanton Memorial Golf Tournament, which took place July 17, at the Nashua Country Club. Twenty-one golf foursomes took to the links to raise more than $35,000 for MGH's cancer research. On Aug. 16, Justin's family and committee members joined him at a ceremony at the hospital where he presented the check to Peter L. Slavin, MD, president of the MGH. Special guests included Reed Hillman, Lt. Governor Kerry Healey's running mate for Massachusetts governor; Thomas F. Delaney, MD, of MGH Orthopædics; David C. Harmon, MD, of MGH Hematology/Oncology; and Thomas F. Delaney, MD, of MGH Radiation Oncology.

Justin thanked Slavin and the doctors who treated his father, as well as his friends and family members who supported him in his cause. "Hopefully we'll be here again next year with an even bigger check to advance cancer research at the MGH," he said.

For more information about the Kenneth Stanton Fund, contact Ellen Hurley, of MGH Development, at (617) 726-3854.