How It Started
Edelson, MD, Director of
Yale Cancer Center
founders of
the Connecticut Challenge
It started with two friends. Jeff Keith is a pediatric cancer survivor, athlete and long-time fundraiser for cancer research. John Ragland is a serious cyclist and business entrepreneur.
In January, 2005, Jeff had visited the David B. Perini Quality of Life Clinic at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston - a clinic for pediatric cancer survivors - and felt strongly that adult cancer survivors needed access to the same type of resource in Connecticut. He approached, Dr. Richard Edelson, Director of Yale Cancer Center, with the proposition to fund a survivorship clinic at the newly planned Yale Cancer Center facility in New Haven. Dr. Edelson and his colleagues at Yale were very enthusiastic about the concept and signed on.
Jeff and John then sat down in April 2005 to create the organization and the event that would become the Connecticut Challenge. Thousands of volunteer hours later the first Connecticut Challenge took place on August 28th, 2005. All participants involved were unanimous in their praise and their pledges of continued support for the event.
In three years, Jeff Keith and John Ragland have presented $1.36 million to Yale Cancer Center with the pledge to continue to increase that amount every year. A new summer tradition - another example of Connecticut residents and business supporting their own - was born.
