Giving Week
Every year our employees join together (virtually this year) to give back to our communities and spread the holiday spirit by raising funds for Family Reach, a wonderful organization that provides assistance to families with a child or parent afflicted by cancer. Our Penzberg employees also participated virtually in Giving Week, supporting the critical mission of the José Carreras Leukemia Foundation for the second year to support families affected by leukemia. Again this year each donation to Giving Week was matched 100% by Foundation Medicine.
Ask A Doctor: Town Hall for Kids
We recently hosted a Town Hall for Kids led by some of our resident Foundation Medicine MDs, in which we gave our employees children the opportunity to ask questions about COVID-19 and educate them in a way that doesn’t cause them fear, confusion or anxiety. In this current environment, we know that children are being overloaded with information but may still have concerns or unanswered questions. The goal was to provide enough detail on COVID-19 so that children understand the situation, learn how to stay safe and feel more relieved.
Cancer and the LGBTQ Community
Foundation Medicine’s PROUD Employee Resource Network ((Promoting Representation, Openness and Understanding of Diversity) ) welcomed Dr. Ulrike Boehmer for their inaugural Lunch & Learn event. Dr. Boehmer is an Associate Professor of Social & Behavioral Sciences at Boston University’s School of Public Health. Dr. Boehmer hosted a lively conversation around her view of cancer’s status as an epidemic within the LGBTQ community, explaining that while cancer itself is the same, every community has different needs, issues, and ways of responding to disease progression and treatment. It was truly an educational and eye-opening session!
FMI Helps
We launched FMI Helps to support both the cancer community and our local areas, during this challenging time of COVID-19. Through this program, we will be providing ongoing charitable support, as well as matching employee donations, to local organizations that are committed to addressing critical needs of cancer patients and to local community organizations providing vital support in Boston, Raleigh, San Diego and Penzberg, where Foundation Medicine labs and operations are present.
FMI PMC Winter Cycle
In January 2020, our employees participated in the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) Winter Cycle event at Fenway Park. The PMC, which takes place every August, raises money for cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through a two-day, 190-mile bike-a-thon across Massachusetts. PMC Winter Cycle is a supporting spin event that takes place at Fenway Park - both indoors and out! It was great to see everyone cycling hard as we continued our support of the PMC Winter Cycle!
Dinner and Departures at the Hope Lodge
Members of our Program and Portfolio Management team and our Clinical Bioinformatics Operations team have served dinner to over 100 residents of the Hope Lodge in Jamaica Plain, MA. Hope Lodge locations provide lodging and support services to cancer patients and their caregivers when their best hope for effective treatment is away from home.
After serving dinner, our colleagues were honored to learn about the guests’ personal journeys and were lucky enough to witness eight bell ringing ceremonies in our two visits, which signify the end of the guest’s treatment and their departure from the Hope Lodge!
Lab Week
Lab Week is an annual celebration of medical laboratory professionals who play an integral role in health care and patient advocacy. Here at Foundation Medicine, we take this time each year to celebrate and recognize all of the superstars across all of our labs - who live and breathe our mission to its core - through a weeklong program of events and lab employee virtual spotlights.
Cambridge Summer Classic 5k
A group of employees from different departments represented the company at the Cambridge Summer Classic 5k in 2019. There are ample opportunities to become involved in local events, and Foundation Medicine sponsors registration in many cases. Employees are also encouraged to raise awareness about new events that have a philanthropic goal and Foundation Medicine can often contribute as a corporate sponsor.
LUNGe Forward 5k Run
A group of employees from RTP participated in the LUNGe Forward 5k Run, Walk & Rally in September 2020. The event was established to provide hope to those impacted by lung cancer.
