The Concern Foundation is an acronym from CONquer canCER Now.  It was started in 1968 when a close group of Los Angeles friends found out that one of their own had developed breast cancer.  At the time, breast cancer or any type of cancer wasn't on the high priority list as it is now. 

So, these friends forged ahead and established the Concern Foundation in honor of their friend, Beverly Wolman.  Speed up to the 1990's and this foundation has raised more than 36 million dollars and has had over 10,000 contributors.

Concern Foundation's primary fundraiser is its annual Block Party. The Block Party is a popular event which features live music, a silent auction, and cuisine from many of Los Angeles'finest restaurants including Lawry's, The Grill on the Alley, Pink's Hot Dogs, Il Cielo, Mistral, The Farm of Beverly Hills, and Jozu Restaurant.  Each year at the event, they honor a philanthropic member of the community who has demonstrated particular dedication to cancer related causes.  This year, they attracted over 2,500 guests, raised over $1.2 million for cancer research, and honored Joe Mannis. 

This year's theme was called the Stampede to Conquer Cancer.  It was a western themed event with all the trimmings.  Including all the above mentioned restaurants,which were absolutely deliciously amazing (go into more details further on in the article),there were cowboys staging gun fights randomly through out the night.  The saloon girls were dressed in befitting the western theme with the corsets and petticoats.  There was a parade of the women's suffrage movement, clanging on their tin pots, giving an air of authenticity to the western theme and last but notleast,a mechanical bull to show off how much of a cowboy one is.  At the end of the night,the bull tallied about 30 falls and a whole lot of laughing. 

The main exhibit for the evening though, was the food.  The vast array of restaurants when lined up was about one mile long.  And the variety of dishes were like a rainbow with countless choices, not including desserts. Starting from Mr.Cecil's BBQ ribs to California Sushi Academy and everything in between, one could lose track of time just tasting the food.   Almost all the restaurants had their best foot forward by bringing out the best dishes.  Chin Chin had these amazing spring rolls with a tangy but, sweet peanut sauce, Lawry's blew the top off with their prime rib and creamed spinach to the immensely popular El Cholo's famous tamales. 

The creme de la creme had to go to the desserts though.  Bring out the bugles and the fanfare because these pasterries pulled up their sleeves and really got down with the dough.  The cakes were enticing, as each vendor lined up to call you over and try their delicious cookies, cream puffs and truffles. 

Cream puffs were lined with candy designed to look like pearls, the truffles were laced with intricate drawings made from white chocolate shavings and very precisely geometrically lined. The competition to out do each other was fierce so, the bigger companies like Krispy Kreme and Cheesecake Factory had hardly any traffic with their wan display of boxes of very unappealing desserts compared to the colorful arrangements of the mom and pop bakeries. 

To top off the evening, their was gambling involved with blackjack, roulette, and craps.  Unfortunately, it was fake funny and the only thing it bought was raffle tickets. There was a lasso learning center, where you can learn how to lasso a cow.  And if your good enough, you can actually sit on a wooden horse and try to lasso a dummy cow that shoots out from underneath.  More amusing than the lasso was the quick draw, you can hypothetically shoot your partner- there was a long line for this one.

Not to miss the point, the concern foundation has brought all this amusement for a more somber issue- cancer.  All around the event, signs were posted up about smoking related  cancer. Concern Foundation is a rarity in the nonprofit world as it maintains an administrative overhead of 5% or less . About 95 cents of a donated dollar goes toward research. This is made possible by remaining primarily volunteer driven. Ten of the original 15 couples are still actively involved and membership has grown to over 10,000 . A multi-generational organization, as many as four generations of families work side by side to sustain the mission to find a cure.

Thanks to the training and leadership provided by the organization's founding visionaries, the second and third generations have assumed the current leadership role.  Since 1968, Concern Foundation has raised well over $36 million dollars to cultivate outstanding young scientists and to sustain the progress in prevention and treatment of cancer. There are presently 55 researchers supported by a "CONquer canCER Now" grant. These outstanding investigators are furthering their expertise in 13 different areas of cancer research at leading insitutions in California, the United States, and around the world. 

Photos by Lawrence Davis

To learn more about this wonderful oraganization, please go to: www.concernfoundation.org

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