Take a Swing at Cancer
Encyclopedia
| Motto | It’s the sporting thing to do! |
| Established | 1998 |
| President | Kristen Dion |
| Headquarters | Framingham, MA Massachusetts The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010... , USA United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
| Membership | N/A |
| Founders | Kristen Dion, Ron Dyer, Russ Fustino, Jan Jenkins, Courtney 'Chip' Lloyd, Melvin Marcus, James Ragazzo, Andrew Smyth, Donald Voner |
| Homepage | www.takeaswing.org |
Take A Swing at Cancer, Inc., also known as "TASC", is an American tax-exempt charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
(IRS designated 501(c)(3)) that was established in memory of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
patients and raises money to be used in the war against cancer. The emphasis of their fundraising
Fundraising
Fundraising or fund raising is the process of soliciting and gathering voluntary contributions as money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies...
events centers on (but is not limited to) sporting activities. Funds raised are primarily given directly to individuals in need. But, the organization's charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
also allows them to contribute to tax-exempt charities and organizations that provide cancer services such as research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
, treatment, early detection, family support, hospice
Hospice
Hospice is a type of care and a philosophy of care which focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's symptoms.In the United States and Canada:*Gentiva Health Services, national provider of hospice and home health services...
and education.
The organization is headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts
Framingham, Massachusetts
Framingham is a New England town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 68,318 as of the United States 2010 Census. -History:...
, operates in and around the New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
region of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and works primarily with beneficiaries from the same area.
Mission
Take a Swing at Cancer's mission is: to help families affected by Cancer. The goal is to ease the financial burden placed on families by offering alternative funding to assist with the expenses not covered by traditional insuranceInsurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
.
Organization
TASC is governed by a 15-member all-volunteer Board of Directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
. Each year, half of the directors are elected to two-year terms
Term of office
Term of office or term in office refers to the length of time a person serves in a particular office.-Prime Minister:In the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister has no term limits...
. A President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
, Vice-President, Treasurer
Treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The adjective for a treasurer is normally "tresorial". The adjective "treasurial" normally means pertaining to a treasury, rather than the treasurer.-Government:...
and Secretary
Secretary
A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...
are all elected annually by the Board. The President runs the day-to-day operations of the organization and the fiscal year runs January through December.
There are several Committee
Committee
A committee is a type of small deliberative assembly that is usually intended to remain subordinate to another, larger deliberative assembly—which when organized so that action on committee requires a vote by all its entitled members, is called the "Committee of the Whole"...
structures throughout the organization. Many of these center around TASC's various fundraising events (Softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
, Golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, etc.). But, there is also a Marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
, Beneficiary
Beneficiary
A beneficiary in the broadest sense is a natural person or other legal entity who receives money or other benefits from a benefactor. For example: The beneficiary of a life insurance policy, is the person who receives the payment of the amount of insurance after the death of the insured...
, Finance
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
and Website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
Committee. Committee Chairs are appointed by the President at the beginning of the year.
Meetings are typically held once a month, although there is also an Annual Meeting that takes place at the end of the calendar year
Calendar year
Generally speaking, a calendar year begins on the New Year's Day of the given calendar system and ends on the day before the following New Year's Day. By convention, a calendar year consists of a natural number of days. To reconcile the calendar year with an astronomical cycle , certain years...
. All Board members and Committee Chairs congregate to organize future events, discuss internal business and promote the general growth of the organization. While Board Members are the only ones who can vote on general matters of business, volunteers
Volunteering
Volunteering is generally considered an altruistic activity, intended to promote good or improve human quality of life, but people also volunteer for their own skill development, to meet others, to make contacts for possible employment, to have fun, and a variety of other reasons that could be...
and the general public are encouraged to attend and participate.
History
The organization's roots began in 1991 when a small group of volunteers, known informally as the Softball Against Cancer Committee, came together to run a charity softball event.In the early months of 1998, after several years of successful tournaments, committee members joined forces to incorporate Take a Swing at Cancer, Inc. (TASC) into its own non-profit organization, complete with a Board of Directors and slate
Slate (elections)
A slate is a group of candidates that run in multi-seat or multi-position elections on a common platform.The common platform may be because the candidates are all members of a political party, have the same or similar policies, or some other reason....
of Officers. Incorporating allowed TASC to broaden its beneficiary reach and have a more direct impact on those facing the challenges of battling cancer.
In 2003, Take a Swing at Cancer, Inc. reached a milestone
Milestone (Project management)
Within the framework of project management, a milestone is the end of a stage that marks the completion of a work package or phase, typically marked by a high level event such as completion, endorsement or signing of a deliverable, document or a high level review meeting.In addition to signaling...
by gaining its official 501(c)(3)status from the IRS.
Softball
In 1991, Andy Smyth, along with brother, Jeff, and family friend, Don Voner, created the softball tournamentTournament
A tournament is a competition involving a relatively large number of competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:...
and called it the "Betty Smyth Softball Classic". It was organized to commemorate the life and vivacity of Andy and Jeff’s mother, who died of breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
in 1988. The idea for the event was to have a weekend filled with fun centered around softball, while contributing to the fight against cancer. The event continued in 1992 and 1993, growing more successful with each passing year.
In 1996, the tournament was re-created as "Take a Swing at Cancer ‘96" and was even more successful then the previous tournaments. Twenty teams registered and over $6,000 was netted. All proceeds were donated directly to the American Cancer Society
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...
. By this time, a core group of committed volunteers had formed.
The very first tournament was held at Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
in Medford, MA. But, all subsequent events have taken place at the Mitre
Mitre
The mitre , also spelled miter, is a type of headwear now known as the traditional, ceremonial head-dress of bishops and certain abbots in the Roman Catholic Church, as well as in the Anglican Communion, some Lutheran churches, and also bishops and certain other clergy in the Eastern Orthodox...
Field Complex in Burlington, MA. The 2007 tournament represented the 15th Annual softball tournament and Hurricane Hanna forced the cancellation of the 16th Annual event in 2008.
Golf
In the fall of 1999, TASC became involved with the Jared Tuccolo Memorial Golf Tournament by providing volunteers for the event and contributing $1,000. In 2000, TASC brought this event under its umbrella and became more involved in the planning process. The golf tournament has seen increasing profits in each successive year. The proceeds are disbursed in the form of scholarships to students at Jared's high schoolHigh school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
(Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School in Haverhill, Massachusetts
Haverhill, Massachusetts
Haverhill is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 60,879 at the 2010 census.Located on the Merrimack River, it began as a farming community that would evolve into an important industrial center, beginning with sawmills and gristmills run by water power. In the...
) with the remaining funds being distributed by the Beneficiary Committee to other cancer patients in need.
Other events
Take a Swing at Cancer has participated in the Simon Mall Evening of Giving since its inception. As of 2009, they began ramping up their 3rd annual PokerPoker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
Tournament and they continue to solicit new ideas as the organization continues to grow.
Beneficiary Disbursements
Since 2000, more than $250,000 has been provided directly to beneficiaries of Take a Swing at Cancer. TASC disburses nearly 100% of its proceeds to worthy individuals and organizations who have completed the application process, which includes screening by the Beneficiary Committee.The beneficiary
Beneficiary
A beneficiary in the broadest sense is a natural person or other legal entity who receives money or other benefits from a benefactor. For example: The beneficiary of a life insurance policy, is the person who receives the payment of the amount of insurance after the death of the insured...
process often puts the Beneficiary Committee into direct contact with beneficiary recipients through the work of beneficiary liaisons. Many of TASC’s beneficiaries are individuals and families who need relief from the stress of mounting bills incurred during cancer treatment. Liaisons are in the unique position to assist people with expenses that are not covered by traditional insurance, including but not limited to mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
payments, car repairs, and other household bills. They have also supported several organizations that share a similar vision , such as Andrew's Helpful Hands , Angel's Hope , Childhood Cancer Lifeline of New Hampshire and Dana Farber Cancer Institute .
Logo
The original TASC logoLogo
A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...
was a three person pyramid
Pyramid
A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
designed by Jennifer Smyth in the mid-1990s. The current TASC logo was designed in 2002 by Andee Wilcott. The concept of the 'running T' was designed to capture the ideas of motion, energy and compassion while simultaneously displaying an orientation towards sports that was not specific to any one sport.
Presidents
- Russ Fustino - 1998-2000
- Donald Voner - 2000-2003
- Christine Nevosh - 2003-2005
- Danny Blood - 2005-Present