Ryan Gibson Foundation Raises Funds for Leukemia Research

[MrMustang1965]

http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2006/ ... pmeyer.txt

One Particular Harbor "Bittersweet" for Gibson Family

(Springdale, Arkansas) There are those who have gone before us whose lives, whatever the length, were so extraordinary that the bar is set so high for the rest of us that we go to great lengths to fulfill that standard. Such was the standard Ryan Gibson set for his family and friends.

Ryan survived leukemia but not the debilitating effects of the treatment on his immune system. When he died, he was preparing for medical school and working toward less toxic treatments for leukemia.

On July 15, more than 400 Northwest Arkansans sailed into One Particular Harbor, the Ryan Gibson Foundation’s fifth annual event at the Fayetteville Town Center, raising $115,000.

The Gibson Foundation has 11 annual fund-raisers in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas, all with the succinct goal of curing leukemia. All expenses are underwritten, and all money raised goes directly to research.

Ryan’s parents, Don and Carol Lynn Gibson, his brother Derek and wife Jennifer put together the One Particular Harbor annual fund-raiser with foundation board members and several local volunteers. Don and Derek serve on the foundation’s board with Ryan’s Southern Methodist University fraternity brothers (Pi Kappa Alpha)and longtime friends.

As part of the evening’s program, Derek presented a $50,000 donation to Dr. Marcel van den Brink of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Van den Brink is working toward reducing the toxicity of bone marrow transplants.

Don Gibson told me that while the tropically themed event is, “bittersweet,” the support from our community is very comforting to the Gibson family.

Volunteers who helped included Linden Siems, Mary Frances and Peter Dant, Randy and Christine Meier, Tonya Martin, Debby Weiser, Tom and Sue O’Neal, Janell Martin and Jaime Goddard.

Other guests included Pat Walker; Dr. James Suen, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Arkansas Cancer Research Center director, and his wife, Karen; John and Mary George; Dr. Tony Hui; and Springdale Mayor Jerre and Judy Van Hoose.

Biography of Ryan Gibson from the foundation's web site:

Donald Ryan Gibson was born November 13, 1975 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He graduated from Springdale High School where he was Student Body President, member of the National Honor Society, Jr. Bank Board and the Golf Team. He graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas with a bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences, and Minors in Psychology and Electrical Engineering. While attending SMU, Ryan received the Engineering School's award for the highest grade point average for a freshman student and was named to the Alpha Lambda Delta honors society.

He was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and was named the national outstanding Pike for October 1995. He received the Bank of America Joe Martin Excellence Award and was chosen for SMU's highest honor organization, the Robert Hyer Society, as well as the Golden Kay Honor Society. He was named to the Mortar Board list of Top 10 SMU sophomores and graduated Cum Laude. He was inducted in to Phi Beta Kappa and the Alpha Epsilon Delta Medical Honor Society.

Ryan was working in Dallas with Baylor Health System in a joint cancer research project with the University of Texas Southwestern, while waiting to begin medical school in the fall of 2001. He had been accepted to the University of Arkansas School of Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern School of Medicine (with scholarship) and the prestigious Duke University School of Medicine. Ryan was active in the Leukemia Society, both in Texas and Northwest Arkansas with bone marrow drives, fund raising and counseling of cancer patients. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Springdale, AR and attended the Highland Park Methodist Church in Dallas.

[smupony94]

Not only a nice guy, but this is a great organization too.

[that's great raplh]

amen to that