HERSHEY- It isn't often that you can put cattle auction and cancer research in the same sentence. But earlier this year in Grapevine, Texas, the Texas Longhorn Legacy Sale III did exactly that. The highest-priced animal, Sabrina, sold for $82,000, all of which benefits the Fenza Gaynor Family Endowment for Cancer Research at Penn State Cancer Institute. The endowment provides annual support to Penn State Cancer Institute physicians and researchers as they search for a cure.
This endowment helps Penn State Cancer Institute with its mission of advancing the care of cancer patients, said Thomas Loughran, M.D., director, Penn State Cancer Institute. The Fenza familys support allows us to make the latest cancer research advances available to our cancer patients as quickly as possible.
Sabrina was consigned by business entrepreneur Bill Hudson, Hattiesburg, Miss., and purchased by Bill and Judy Meridith of Wellington, Kan.
Robert E. Fenza, a 1980 Penn State graduate and executive vice president and chief operating officer of Liberty Property Trust in Malvern, Pa., and his wife, Marcy, established the Fenza Gaynor Family Endowment for Cancer Research at Penn State Cancer Institute in honor of his father, Matthew Fenza, who died from non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2006 and in honor of his father-in-law, Joseph Gaynor, and his sister, Debi Danino, both of whom currently are in remission. Rob and Marcy decided to use gifts from their wedding, as well as donations from his fathers memorial, to fund the endowment.
Fenza and Hudson became close friends after joining the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association in 2003. They share a passion for breeding and raising longhorn cattle and, like many association members, have had family members and friends affected by cancer.
In November 2006, Fenzas wife Marcy was diagnosed with breast cancer. Within days of hearing the news, Hudson decided to donate his finest cow to support cancer research and to honor Marcy. We are humbled by his generosity and truly blessed by his friendship and support, Fenza said. And we cant thank the Merediths enough for purchasing Sabrina to support the Fenza Gaynor Family Endowment for Cancer Research at Penn State Cancer Institute.
Penn State Cancer Institute is a unique partnership founded by Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, The Pennsylvania State University, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, and Mount Nittany Medical Center. Along with its affiliate members (Lewistown Hospital, Wyoming Valley Health Care System and Susquehanna Health System), Penn State Cancer Institute is dedicated to advancing cancer research through the discovery of new approaches to prevention and treatment, improving care delivery, enhancing survivorship and quality of life for people living with cancer, and educating health care professionals, patients and caregivers in our communities.
