LAST DAY: The World is Waiting
By Don C. Reed
Please share this message with all your social media!!
Today is the last day to gather signatures to put the California stem cell program on the ballot!! Remember, this is a $5.5 billion program! Think what it could do in the battle against COVID-19…
In the picture above is Bob Klein, the man who began and led the California stem cell program, and is now working to renew that program with an additional $5.5 billion. It is a terrific program — which needs your help.
Is there one more signature you could gather? It is not too late, and it is easy to do.
Like yesterday I went outside for exercise. I had my home-made red cloth mask on, and was ready to walk — when I saw my next-door neighbor washing her car. I had not seen her since the loss of my wife Gloria, and she naturally expressed condolences.
I told her that I took comfort in fighting back against cancer through working to renew funding for the California stem cell program, and she said:
“Oh, could I help with that?”
Naturally I ran home, dashed upstairs, printed off the 16-page form, stapled the sheets together at the upper left-hand corner, located a 9x12 envelope, put on two forever stamps, and the address — (to Melissa King, Californians for Cures, 660 4th Street, #344 San Francisco, CA 94107 ) — and rushed back.
I explained the process: her name had to be at the bottom of the signature page, identifying her as collector and the dates she collected, from when she began to when she stopped — in her case the same date both places.
Then I said thank you about six times, and made a mental note to check in with her later, in case there were difficulties. I did, but there weren’t. Today I will knock on her door, make sure the envelope was mailed, drop it off myself, if that would help.
Want to try? It’s easy!
Just go here: https://caforcures.com/help-us-qualify/
Download the full document. It is 16 pages long, but almost all of it is background. You only have to fill out a little bit on the bottom of one page.
There is space for your information as collector at the very bottom of the signature page, plus four slots for people — be sure you are one of them!
Even just one signature is vital — we do not want to be short one signature!!
To send the signatures (you must include the full 16-page document) you need a 9x12 envelope and 2 “forever” stamps. Get it in the mail before the end of the day, today, so it is postmarked by April 18th.
Send the stamped envelope to: Melissa King, Californians for Cures, 660 4th Street, #344 San Francisco, CA 94107
If you have questions, call or email her: melissa@caforcures.com 415–816–1051
FOR LOS ANGELES COUNTY ONLY: Jacqueline Hantgan, Californians for Cures, 15030 Ventura Blvd., #336 Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
Again, for questions, send email: jacqueline@caforcures.com 650–619–7771
The world is waiting for cures. And if we in California can provide a climate conducive to stem cell success, there will be no stopping us!
Example: right now, a company called Gilead has a new product, Remdesivir — a promising possibility of curing COVID-19.
Read an amazing article by Adam Feuerstein and Matthew Herper: “EARLY LOOK AT TRIAL DATA SUGGESTS RAPID RECOVERY IN COVID-19 PATIENTS…”
You might already know Gilead. They recently purchased a cancer treatment by Irv Weissman of Stanford — the famous CD-47 treatment — which was strongly supported in its development by the California stem cell program.
What are we fighting for? The bill is called: The California Stem Cell Research, Treatments, and Cures Initiative of 2020. It continues the program already in place.
We are not talking pie-in-the-sky possibilities; this is a proven program, a success we must continue. Technically titled the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), it has literally saved lives, and eased suffering — like the fifty children, who had the “Bubble Baby” condition, frequently fatal: today they are healthy and well, thanks to research funded by CIRM.
And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
CIRM is fighting for cures for paralysis (patients who were completely paralyzed have regained upper body function), heart disease (involving a “tire patch” of living tissue, transplanted) and multiple varieties of cancer, including pancreatic, the kind that killed my wife.
We need cures, and that means research dollars, like those CIRM has provided for the past 16 years. Remember that old saying, “Well begun is half done” — ? CIRM is magnificently well begun — and we must continue.
CIRM is involved in more than 80 clinical trials, 60 of which are catalogued here:
https://www.cirm.ca.gov/clinical-trials
If you go there, you can see which trials are completed, or in progress, and some which are actively recruiting — who knows, there might be a slot for someone with the disease that interests you.
But if we do not get enough signatures, the program will literally die.
Our goal? 950,000 valid signatures.
We can do it, but we need your help — for about 35,000 more signatures. Do something now, if you are ever going to, because today is the deadline. Any signatures you can gather must be postmarked (put in the mailbox) today.
So think…is there one more person you could gently harass?
How about your next door neighbor?