STUDENT SHOWCASE

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Ulman Fund helps cancer victims, families

By Steve Earley
The Ellicott City, Md., View

Dealing with cancer isn't easy for anybody. But, thanks to the Ulman Cancer Fund, it has become a little easier for young adults.

The Ellicott City-based organization, in its fifth year, has become a savior for thousands in that in-between age group. One of them is former Ulman Fund board member Mark McAuley, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer four years ago at age 25. "I constantly searched the Internet and paper for groups," he says, "but there was nothing for people in my age group."

Luckily for McAuley and all of the others the Ulman Fund has helped, Doug Ulman noticed the same thing, and decided to do something about it. After beating cancer in his ribs at age 19, the Centennial High School graduate helped establish the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults.

Fund director Brock Yetso, a Centennial soccer teammate of Ulman's, says it's just like Ulman to take such initiative. "Doug's that type of person - you push him down and he'll get up twice as fast. You can see he wants to make a difference, and I think he has."

Ulman, now a three-time cancer survivor, currently lives in Austin where he works for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. However, he continues to be active as president of the fund. "Doug graduated from Brown University. He could have gone anywhere as far as a career goes," says McAuley. "But he's donated his life to this cause."

The fund has its origins in a support group established in Columbia to help young adults affected by cancer. It now sponsors support groups in six cities and also offers discussion forums and peer support over the Internet, a guidebook for young adults with cancer and eight $1,000 scholarships awarded to students nationwide.

The first-ever Marilyn Yetso Memorial Scholarship went to another Centennial graduate, 17-year-old Andrew Gnagey. The award was established by Yetso after he lost his mother Marilyn to colon cancer in March 2000.

"It was kind of a neat, fitting thing for the first scholarship to go to a Centennial student and someone in the community," he says.

Gnagey's father, John, died from a brain tumor in July 1999. A math teacher at Dunloggin Middle School for 20 years he'd taught Ulman in his classes.

Gnagey plans to major in international business or in a foreign language. "My dad would be proud that I kept working hard in school since he was a teacher," he says. Fluent in Spanish, Gnagey is now a teacher himself, helping adults at Howard Community College learn English.

There were just three applicants the first year the fund offered scholarships. Yetso says there were more than 200 this year. "It's tremendous," he says. "The scholarships are extremely difficult to make decisions for because you want to give them to everyone." He says, based on the response, scholarships will be increased in both size and scope next year.

Yetso also started Columbia's Cure, a 5k run/walk, 25k bike ride and health expo in memory of his mother. The annual spring event aims to raise money (more than $45,000 last year) as well as awareness about colon cancer.

Yetso says colon cancer is over 90 percent curable if detected early. Experts recommend people ages 40 and up undergo screening. "Had she done it and had she known, my mother might be here today," he says.

Thirty-year-old Eden Blum was lucky to catch her rectal cancer early and is now cancer-free. She is an Ulman Fund board member and director of education at Johns Hopkins University's colon cancer center. Blum, diagnosed in November of 1997, wanted to become a doctor or nurse even before she got cancer.

"I thought about going to medical school," she says. "But after getting my undergraduate degree I realized I'm not the classroom type." Her unexpected experience with rectal cancer brought about a unique opportunity. "My doctor started talking about having a director of education at the colon cancer center. And what better person to have than someone who went through it?"

At Hopkins, Blum works to create public awareness about colon cancer. She is also helping run a screening program in Baltimore. In her work with the Ulman Fund, leads the new marketing and public relations sub-committee.

Like McAuley and Yetso, Blum has been both a recipient and provider of the Ulman Fund's services. She still attends the same Columbia support group that helped her get through cancer. "I think it definitely helps me understand what some people are going through," she says. "Having been a patient and being a patient advocate for both the Hopkins colon cancer center and the Ulman Fund provides incredible insight."

Yetso shares a similar opinion. "I really enjoy what I do and am so passionate about it because I've been on both sides," he says. "I've been a recipient of these services and see how beneficial they can be."

The Ulman Fund always welcomes volunteers. Another way to get involved is at its annual golf tournament, Aug. 12 at Walden Golf Club in Crofton. For more information, call 410-964-0202 or visit http://www.ulmanfund.org.