Press Releases

Fund the Research; Find a Cure — on Your Tax Form
For First Time, New York Taxpayers Can Donate to Prostate Cancer Research On Their State Tax Returns with Bonus 3 to 1 for Each Dollar 

New York - March 9, 2005 - For the first time, New Yorkers will be able to donate directly to prostate cancer research on Line 57 on their state income tax returns. Funds donated by New York taxpayers will support leading research institutions in New York state through a competitive grant program and are 100% tax deductible. Additionally, each dollar automatically triples in value, thanks to a dollar-for-dollar match by the Prostate Cancer Foundation and New York state.

One in six men will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime – making it the most commonly diagnosed non-skin cancer in the United States. A new case occurs every two and a half minutes and a man dies from prostate cancer every 17 minutes.

“This year, more than 14,000 New Yorkers will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. That’s enough to fill Carnegie Hall five times over,” said Leslie D. Michelson, vice chairman and chief executive officer of the Prostate Cancer Foundation. “It’s a little known fact that a man is one third more likely to get prostate cancer than woman is to get breast cancer. Donating on Line 57 on your tax forms is an easy and effective way to help find a cure for this increasingly deadly disease.”

This month the Prostate Cancer Foundation is kicking off Fund the Research; Find a Cure, a statewide public education campaign to encourage New Yorkers to give to prostate cancer research this tax season.

“In the next ten years, the Baby Boom generation will be hitting their 50s, when men are most at risk for prostate cancer. That translates to 300,000 new cases a year,” said former five-time World Champion, New York Giant and Los Angeles Ram, Roosevelt (Rosey) Grier. “Alarmingly, African-American men are 65% more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer and two and half times more likely to die. We’re literally racing against the clock.”

“Every dollar gets us closer to a cure -- and closer to saving the lives of our fathers, our brothers, our husbands and our friends,” said John MacMahon, a New Yorker who, at age 32, is currently the youngest American to be diagnosed with prostate cancer. “Every dollar New Yorkers raise will go directly to fund promising and groundbreaking research to fight this deadly disease.”

The campaign will continue through the April 15th tax filing deadline, as many New Yorkers will file time extensions this year. For interviews or more information about the campaign, please visit Prostate Cancer Foundation.

About the Prostate Cancer Foundation

The Prostate Cancer Foundation is the world's largest philanthropic source of support for prostate cancer research. Founded in 1993, the PCF has raised more than $230 million and provided funding for prostate cancer research to more than 1,200 researchers at 100 institutions worldwide. PCF has a simple, yet urgent goal: to find better treatments and a cure for recurrent prostate cancer. For more information, please visit Prostate Cancer Foundation.

Sarah Evans
(310) 570-4705
sevans@prostatecancerfoundation.org

Katie Lambe
(310) 570-4713
klambe@prostatecancerfoundation.org