Nicklaus Children's Hospital receives first major gift of $100,000 from STOP! Children's Cancer

North Palm Beach, Fla.-The Board of STOP! Children's Cancer of Palm Beach County, Inc.-a non-profit organization founded in 1983-announced at its annual spring luncheon Friday a major gift of $100,000 to the Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation, immediately following a keynote address by Barbara Nicklaus.

The Nicklaus Children's Hospital will be constructed on the campus of St. Mary's Hospital in West Palm Beach.

The donation marks the first major gift to the Foundation since it announced plans to fund and oversee construction on the Nicklaus Children's Hospital to serve Palm Beach and surrounding counties. The closest children's hospitals to Palm Beach County are in Miami and Orlando.

"We're pleased to present this first major donation since the Nicklaus family announced a long-time dream to be a driving part of providing a children's hospital for this area, which so desperately needs one," said STOP! Board President Delores Colton.

An estimated 225 members and supporters of STOP! Children's Cancer of Palm Beach County gathered for Friday's annual spring luncheon at the Lost Tree Club in North Palm Beach.

Mrs. Nicklaus was the keynote speaker and talked about the family's plans for the Nicklaus Children's Hospital to be constructed on the campus of St. Mary's Hospital in West Palm Beach.

"When they gave me the check, I told the group, 'A friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart, and you've touched mine,' " Barbara Nicklaus said. "Jack and I have always felt that children are at the root of the heart, and we've always felt that if there is ever anything we could give back, because of the wonderful life we've shared, we want to help children."

Dr. Stephen Hunger-who currently holds the STOP! Children's Cancer of Palm Beach County endowed chair in pediatric hematology/oncology at Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Fla.-also provided a brief research update before Mrs. Nicklaus' talk. Hunger also is the esteemed director of the children's cancer clinical program at the University of Florida College of Medicine.

STOP! Children's Cancer of Palm Beach County was founded in 1983 by Dr. and Mrs. Stanley Dober of northern Palm Beach County. The organization has no staff nor expenses, as the Board's annual dues underwrite these nominal amounts. The group therefore donates 100 percent of the money it raises to networked children's cancer research trials in Florida and to help support Palm Beach County families with their medical treatments.

To date, STOP! Children's Cancer has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the most promising research of children's cancer-and mostly to the endowed chair it founded at Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Fla., where focused research is conducted and then results and clinical trials coordinated nationally.