On Saturday, February 16 I had the opportunity to volunteer at the NOSH Gala located at M at the Miranova in downtown Columbus. I participated in this service event from 3:30 pm – 10:30 pm with a few other members of Breathe Hope, an Ohio State student organization I joined this semester. The Nosh Gala is affiliated with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to raise money for research and treatments. Most of the people who attended the gala were doctors and experts on cystic fibrosis along with families who have been affected by cystic fibrosis. My volunteer role was to assist in checking people in and out of the gala in order to make their experience easier and help the organizers run the event smoothly.
Even though my role was not particularly huge, it was exciting to be a part of a cause that actively works to change the lives of those with genetic diseases and their families. Since there was a lull in our volunteer roles while the event was actually going on, the organizers allowed us to stand in the back of the room and listen to the two guest speakers who were both very powerful and moving.
The first speaker was Dr. Mitchell Drumm who was one of the doctors who helped discover the gene for cystic fibrosis. Not only did he speak on the medical details behind cystic fibrosis and how him and other doctors discovered the gene, but he also mentioned a statistic that stuck with me the rest of the night and made me see just how important that night’s fundraising was. He explained that cystic fibrosis is a rare disease, yet there are multitudes of other genetic diseases that are even more rare than cystic fibrosis. While only small amounts of people have each individual disease, it adds up that 1 and 20 people are likely to have some kind of genetic mutation. However, since the other diseases are not as well known, they do not have large foundations like the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to raise money and awareness for their diseases. Because of this, the research and discoveries made by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation then gets applied to other genetic diseases which ends up helping more just cystic fibrosis patients.
The second speaker, Ryan, gave an emotional testimony of his own experience with cystic fibrosis. He was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when he was a baby and his parents were told he would not make it through elementary school. However, because of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s advancing research and treatments, he is currently 34 and doing great. One of the most moving nights of the evening was when he talked about a new treatment he tried a few years ago. The first few weeks with this new treatment he felt really sick until one night where he had a sudden urge to go for a run. After running, he realized that, for the first time in his life, he could breathe.
The NOSH Gala relates to international affairs because it is not only Americans who have cystic fibrosis and therefore the research and technology that comes out of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation helps patients worldwide.
I am glad to have had this opportunity to hear from Dr. Drumm and hope to continue to help the Cystic Fibrosis Fund in the future through Breathe Hope to help patients like Ryan.