My Great Strides Story
Gayle Greenberg
Fundraising for Great Strides Palm Beach County & Treasure Coast
Gayle Greenberg
Dear Friends and Family,
Please join our family in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s annual GREAT STRIDES WALK TO CURE CF on Sunday, May 4 at 9:00 am at Dreher Park South, West Palm Beach. We hope you will join us as a walker and/or sponsor of our team “More Than Just Mitch”.
Our involvement with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation began when our son, Mitchell, was diagnosed at birth with this devastating disease. So much has changed since then. From an average age of 9 years in 1973 to more than 60 years in 2023. New drugs, antibiotics, and gene modification therapy have all enhanced the life expectancy and quality of life for a person diagnosed with CF today. Mitch was born a generation too soon; he knew that, and he always said he was a pioneer in this disease as he participated in many of the early drug trials.
Receiving his first double lung transplant in 2009, we were so optimistic; only to develop chronic rejection three months later. Once again, he underwent a second transplant in 2010, no longer optimistic, just grateful. The next four years were a dream come true which unfortunately ended in 2014 when he was once again told he was in chronic rejection. Mitch had his third transplant in June 2017 but had major complications and lost his battle on September 24, 2017.
Mitch was adamant that more needed to be done with improving the outcomes of lung transplantation. Because of our efforts, the Foundation made a commitment to create a lung transplant initiative which began in 2017. The CF Foundation has honored this commitment by funding over $70 million in programs focused on optimizing lung transplant outcomes and prevention of chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) since 2017. The top research award is named in Mitch’s honor (Mitch Greenberg Memorial Award) and was awarded to Dr. Jamie Tood from Duke University this year.
Today, with the advancements in CF research and the development of new gene modification therapy drugs, the number of lung transplants has decreased dramatically from 250 in 2018 to only 60 in 2023. And the life expectancy post lung transplant has increased from 7 years to 9 years. Today CF research is focused on mRNA therapy, gene therapy, and gene editing so that all people with CF will have a chance for a more normalized life.
I could talk forever about Mitch. He was serious; he loved life, he loved to travel; he loved Phish. But most of all he loved his twin boys, Matias and Simon, who are now 21 years old and juniors in college. He would have been so proud of them.
We hope you will once again support our family as we join thousands of others throughout this country to raise money through the CF Foundation’s GREAT STRIDES Walk to Cure CF. Please join us in support of our team - More than Just Mitch - for this year's walk.
A generous donation to the CF Foundation in honor of Mitch: $50, $100, or $1,000 – whatever amount you feel comfortable with – would be greatly appreciated. You can make a donation online by going to https://fundraise.cff.org/PalmBeachFL2025/TeamMoreThanJustMitch.
If you live in Florida and would like to join our team for the walk, we would love to have you. Just contact me at 301-674-4077 / ggreenberg47@gmail.com and I will register you.
You can also mail us your donation at: 3546 S Ocean Blvd #902, Palm Beach, FL 33480. If you have received this through snail mail, a return envelope has been enclosed for your convenience.
As always, we thank you with every breath in our body. We miss Mitchell every day and think of him always. But we know he is watching us and smiling down on us as we move forward to ensure that his CF brothers and sisters will have a longer life than his 44 short years. Thank you for keeping Mitch’s memory alive.
With all our love,
Bill and Gayle
Please join our family in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s annual GREAT STRIDES WALK TO CURE CF on Sunday, May 4 at 9:00 am at Dreher Park South, West Palm Beach. We hope you will join us as a walker and/or sponsor of our team “More Than Just Mitch”.
Our involvement with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation began when our son, Mitchell, was diagnosed at birth with this devastating disease. So much has changed since then. From an average age of 9 years in 1973 to more than 60 years in 2023. New drugs, antibiotics, and gene modification therapy have all enhanced the life expectancy and quality of life for a person diagnosed with CF today. Mitch was born a generation too soon; he knew that, and he always said he was a pioneer in this disease as he participated in many of the early drug trials.
Receiving his first double lung transplant in 2009, we were so optimistic; only to develop chronic rejection three months later. Once again, he underwent a second transplant in 2010, no longer optimistic, just grateful. The next four years were a dream come true which unfortunately ended in 2014 when he was once again told he was in chronic rejection. Mitch had his third transplant in June 2017 but had major complications and lost his battle on September 24, 2017.
Mitch was adamant that more needed to be done with improving the outcomes of lung transplantation. Because of our efforts, the Foundation made a commitment to create a lung transplant initiative which began in 2017. The CF Foundation has honored this commitment by funding over $70 million in programs focused on optimizing lung transplant outcomes and prevention of chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) since 2017. The top research award is named in Mitch’s honor (Mitch Greenberg Memorial Award) and was awarded to Dr. Jamie Tood from Duke University this year.
Today, with the advancements in CF research and the development of new gene modification therapy drugs, the number of lung transplants has decreased dramatically from 250 in 2018 to only 60 in 2023. And the life expectancy post lung transplant has increased from 7 years to 9 years. Today CF research is focused on mRNA therapy, gene therapy, and gene editing so that all people with CF will have a chance for a more normalized life.
I could talk forever about Mitch. He was serious; he loved life, he loved to travel; he loved Phish. But most of all he loved his twin boys, Matias and Simon, who are now 21 years old and juniors in college. He would have been so proud of them.
We hope you will once again support our family as we join thousands of others throughout this country to raise money through the CF Foundation’s GREAT STRIDES Walk to Cure CF. Please join us in support of our team - More than Just Mitch - for this year's walk.
A generous donation to the CF Foundation in honor of Mitch: $50, $100, or $1,000 – whatever amount you feel comfortable with – would be greatly appreciated. You can make a donation online by going to https://fundraise.cff.org/PalmBeachFL2025/TeamMoreThanJustMitch.
If you live in Florida and would like to join our team for the walk, we would love to have you. Just contact me at 301-674-4077 / ggreenberg47@gmail.com and I will register you.
You can also mail us your donation at: 3546 S Ocean Blvd #902, Palm Beach, FL 33480. If you have received this through snail mail, a return envelope has been enclosed for your convenience.
As always, we thank you with every breath in our body. We miss Mitchell every day and think of him always. But we know he is watching us and smiling down on us as we move forward to ensure that his CF brothers and sisters will have a longer life than his 44 short years. Thank you for keeping Mitch’s memory alive.
With all our love,
Bill and Gayle
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