Putnam City Schools raise more than $110,000 for cancer research at OMRF

OKLAHOMA CITY, June 3, 2009 – In just 365 days, the students, parents and teachers of the Putnam City School District gathered more than $110,000 for cancer research at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.

Since 1975, the school district has worked with OMRF to pay for cancer research, including funding the Putnam City Schools Distinguished Chair in Cancer Research, held by Linda Thompson, Ph.D.

“What these students do is nothing short of miraculous,” Thompson said. “The dedication and commitment shown by Putnam City students will be felt long after they graduate and send their own children to school. They are helping save lives.”

The district presented the proceeds of the 2008-09 Putnam City Schools Cancer Drive – $110,613.19 – to OMRF on Monday night, bringing their total contribution over the last 34 years to $2,808,638.59.

The students raise money in a variety of ways, including carnivals, bake sales and, for the first time in 2008, a 5-kilometer run/walk.

It was Putnam City teacher Lois Thomas who started the school district’s long history of giving to OMRF. Thomas, who passed away in 2007, saw her fellow teachers and her students’ families dealing with an epidemic of cancer more than three decades ago and decided to do something about it.

“Thank goodness for people like Lois Thomas and those who have followed in her footsteps at Putnam City Schools,” said OMRF President Stephen Prescott, M.D. “They may not know it yet, but these students are funding the kind of research that will make lives better all over the world.”

About OMRF
OMRF (omrf.org) is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institute dedicated to understanding and developing more effective treatments for human diseases. Chartered in 1946, its scientists focus on such critical research areas as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, lupus and cardiovascular disease.

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