Christopher Weil & Company Raises Over $10,000 to Support Organ Donation and Transplant Organizations
Firm hosts book signing fundraiser with author Susan Whitman Helfgot who just released her first book The Match: Complete Strangers, a Miracle Face Transplant, Two Lives Transformed.
San Diego, CA, November 18, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Christopher Weil & Company today announced it has raised over $10,000 in support of organ donation and transplant organizations through its book signing fundraiser hosted at the firm’s Del Mar headquarters. The funds will be divided between the Moores Cancer Center at University of California San Diego, Scripps Center for Organ and Cell Transplantation and matchingdonors.com.
Author Susan Whitman Helfgot, who is currently on tour with her newly released book The Match: Complete Strangers, a Miracle Face Transplant, Two Lives Transformed (Simon & Schuster; October 12, 2010; $26.00), was the guest of honor. For a $50 donation, attendees met Susan and received a signed copy of her book. And each of these donations was matched by The Patricia and Christopher Weil Family Foundation.
“I have found that the issue of organ donation touches all of our lives,” said Christopher Weil, founder, Christopher Weil & Company. “It starts with deciding if you will place that pink dot on your driver’s license, but in recent years it has become much more personal. Susan’s husband, the subject of her book, was a client and friend. He started out in need of a donor and in the end, became a donor himself. Awareness and participation in organ donation needs to be elevated so many more lives can be saved. And the good work and research in transplantation conducted at leading institutions like UCSD and Scripps need our support as well. I am proud to have our firm and my family’s foundation stand behind this worthy cause.”
Susan is the widow of Joseph Helfgot, a Hollywood movie research guru, who died receiving a heart transplant last year. In her book, The Match, critically acclaimed by Booklist Review as "a can't-put-it-down tale," Susan shares the story of her dramatic decision and the extraordinary operation that brought Joseph’s face to James Maki, a Vietnam veteran and former heroin addict. Susan shares for the first time the intimate story behind the headline-making news, as well as the remarkable connections between the two men. It took two operating rooms, seventeen hours, and thirty-four doctors, nurses, and technicians to make the transplant a reality. While groundbreaking science and technology paved the way, it’s the courage and compassion of those involved that make The Match a riveting read.
Susan took time out of her scheduled book tour for this special fundraiser. “I am grateful to Chris Weil, his employees, and his family for hosting this event,” said Susan Whitman Helfgot. “Organ donation is my passion. My husband waited for years for a new heart, but only about a third of those in that situation ever receive one. The rest die waiting. Right now, more than 100,000 people in this country alone are waiting for some type of solid organ transplant, but only about a quarter of them will get new organs this year. Potential recipients are on death row, hoping for the phone to ring. Without more donors, they will continue to die, waiting for the call.”
Susan’s proceeds from the book sales will fund the Joseph Helfgot Foundation. The foundation has three goals: to learn, to teach and to repair the world. Included among the many initiatives they have supported are Donate Life, the national organization charged with registering donors and Dr. Pomahac’ s face transplant research lab, the very same transplant surgeon that performed the pioneering surgery that is the subject of her book. For more information on The Match, visit Amazon.com or go to TheMatchStory.com.
About Christopher Weil & Company
Christopher Weil & Company, Inc. ("CWC") is a financial services firm committed to the economic independence of its clients. With over forty years in the financial world, CWC, together with its affiliates, act as portfolio managers, financial planners, private equity sponsors and asset managers. The firm is both a securities broker-dealer and a registered investment advisor, enabling it to provide a comprehensive mix of client services. CWC is innovative in responding to client needs and dedicated to nimble, intelligent customer service with a personal, family touch. For more information, please visit www.cweil.com.
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Author Susan Whitman Helfgot, who is currently on tour with her newly released book The Match: Complete Strangers, a Miracle Face Transplant, Two Lives Transformed (Simon & Schuster; October 12, 2010; $26.00), was the guest of honor. For a $50 donation, attendees met Susan and received a signed copy of her book. And each of these donations was matched by The Patricia and Christopher Weil Family Foundation.
“I have found that the issue of organ donation touches all of our lives,” said Christopher Weil, founder, Christopher Weil & Company. “It starts with deciding if you will place that pink dot on your driver’s license, but in recent years it has become much more personal. Susan’s husband, the subject of her book, was a client and friend. He started out in need of a donor and in the end, became a donor himself. Awareness and participation in organ donation needs to be elevated so many more lives can be saved. And the good work and research in transplantation conducted at leading institutions like UCSD and Scripps need our support as well. I am proud to have our firm and my family’s foundation stand behind this worthy cause.”
Susan is the widow of Joseph Helfgot, a Hollywood movie research guru, who died receiving a heart transplant last year. In her book, The Match, critically acclaimed by Booklist Review as "a can't-put-it-down tale," Susan shares the story of her dramatic decision and the extraordinary operation that brought Joseph’s face to James Maki, a Vietnam veteran and former heroin addict. Susan shares for the first time the intimate story behind the headline-making news, as well as the remarkable connections between the two men. It took two operating rooms, seventeen hours, and thirty-four doctors, nurses, and technicians to make the transplant a reality. While groundbreaking science and technology paved the way, it’s the courage and compassion of those involved that make The Match a riveting read.
Susan took time out of her scheduled book tour for this special fundraiser. “I am grateful to Chris Weil, his employees, and his family for hosting this event,” said Susan Whitman Helfgot. “Organ donation is my passion. My husband waited for years for a new heart, but only about a third of those in that situation ever receive one. The rest die waiting. Right now, more than 100,000 people in this country alone are waiting for some type of solid organ transplant, but only about a quarter of them will get new organs this year. Potential recipients are on death row, hoping for the phone to ring. Without more donors, they will continue to die, waiting for the call.”
Susan’s proceeds from the book sales will fund the Joseph Helfgot Foundation. The foundation has three goals: to learn, to teach and to repair the world. Included among the many initiatives they have supported are Donate Life, the national organization charged with registering donors and Dr. Pomahac’ s face transplant research lab, the very same transplant surgeon that performed the pioneering surgery that is the subject of her book. For more information on The Match, visit Amazon.com or go to TheMatchStory.com.
About Christopher Weil & Company
Christopher Weil & Company, Inc. ("CWC") is a financial services firm committed to the economic independence of its clients. With over forty years in the financial world, CWC, together with its affiliates, act as portfolio managers, financial planners, private equity sponsors and asset managers. The firm is both a securities broker-dealer and a registered investment advisor, enabling it to provide a comprehensive mix of client services. CWC is innovative in responding to client needs and dedicated to nimble, intelligent customer service with a personal, family touch. For more information, please visit www.cweil.com.
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Matthew Weil
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Cynthia Guiang
CG Communications
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Matthew Weil
858-724-6040
www.cweil.com
Media Contact:
Cynthia Guiang
CG Communications
858-793-2471
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