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Spring 2016 : iPromise

iPromise

As a rising senior at Plano West Junior High School last year, Rissa Broudy was challenged by her Advanced Placement English teacher to address a meaningful problem that affects the lives of many. Rissa was inspired by the perseverance of her father, Scott Broudy, a melanoma and head and neck cancer patient at MD Anderson, and the care he receives at the institution. She saw the assignment as a way to spread melanoma prevention awareness and contribute to a family endowment named for Rissa and her sister, Linsey. In the process, she says, she learned the responsibility of a lifelong obligation and commitment to MD Anderson.

BY Rissa Broudy

Photo courtesy of the Broudy family.

Using creativity, social media and business principles, I designed and sold shirts with “melaNOma” on the front and “MD Anderson Cancer Center” on the back. I also included a bottle of MD Anderson-branded sunscreen with each shirt sold. Over the next two months, I began to see the shirts being worn everywhere: school, grocery stores, the recreation center and restaurants. Some of the people I knew, and many I did not. But everyone said the same thing: They loved the shirts, but they especially loved supporting the cause.

I was honored to deliver $250 in proceeds to be deposited into the Rissa and Linsey Broudy Curing Cancer in Our Lifetime Endowment at MD Anderson. The opportunity to benefit MD Anderson in this way made a real difference to me, my family and my friends. Hopefully, this is my first of many lifelong contributions to the endowment over time.

Do you promise? Tell us why you’re committed to Making Cancer History® by sending an email to promise@mdanderson.org.

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