Hepatitis C Research Fund

The Greenview Foundation's Hepatitis C Research Fund is a charity raising money for medical research at the University of Michigan hospitals to help find a cure or better treatment for Hepatitis C.

Hepatitis C is a serious, often chronic and potentially fatal disease that afflicts 4 million Americans and is the #1 reason for liver transplants. Many of these Americans are health care workers that were exposed to infected patients. Many others are unfortunate people that received blood transfusions as medical patients in the 1980's before hepatitis C was detectable. Worldwide, more than 100 million people are estimated to have hepatitis C, most without yet knowing it.

Mission

In relation to the number of Americans with Hepatitis C and the seriousness of the disease, research for a cure or better treatment receives very little government funding. The mission of this fund is to raise awareness of Hepatitis C, increase government funding, and in a very modest way, directly raise money for research.

With the University of Michigan hospitals located just a few miles away and well known as a top-20 medical research center, money raised by this fund will be donated to the University, earmarked for research on hepatitis C.

Cookbook

To raise interest in this cause and help raise money, the foundation's director, Debbie Green, created an attractive and ethnically diverse 280-page cookbook called "Cooking Around the World" with 500 recipes, including over 100 of Debbie's well-tested family recipes.

The cookbook is priced at only $15; after covering the cookbook printing costs, over $11 of this will directly benefit hepatitis C research. Many cookbook purchasers donate over and above the cost the cookbook; any additional donation is tax deductible.

Goals

The first goal of the Hepatitis C Research Fund is to donate $50,000 in 2007 to the University of Michigan hospitals for medical research. To donate $50,000, the Fund's goal is to raise $58,000 to cover the $6000 expense for 2000 cookbooks and $2000 for general legal and office expenses. All staff time is purely voluntary. The goal is to raise $30,000 from cookbook sales and the remainder from tax deductible donations. As of Nov. 11, 2006, $7000 has been raised.

The longer term goal is to raise over $100,000 by 2008; an amount that will significantly increase the amount of Hepatitis C research at the University of Michigan.