Takeda California Makes Donation to San Diego Hospice

Charitable gift and proceeds from upcoming fundraiser on Sunday, June 24, will benefit grief support services for children and families, and training programs for physicians, caregivers, and psychologists in pain management

Takeda California conducts research to help treat and cure cancer, and was inspired to make the donation by the efforts and determination of Ananda Goldrath, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology at UCSD, who lost her husband, Stephen Carson, founder of Regents Pizzeria in La Jolla, to melanoma cancer in 2011. Since Stephen’s passing, Ananda has been tending to the needs of her two young children, her scientific career, and her former husband’s business with the strong aid of San Diego Hospice.

“Through our fight with melanoma as a family, we encountered so many generous and kind individuals who cared for Stephen and us all,” said Ananda. “San Diego Hospice provided tremendous comfort to Stephen in his final days and helped our family through our grieving process.  Their programs included family services such as Grief Street and Camp Erin San Diego, which were instrumental in helping our son through this year.”

In celebration of Stephen’s life, the Carson family and Regents Pizzeria are throwing a party and fundraiser for San Diego Hospice and The Institute for Palliative Medicine on Sunday, June 24 from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Regents Pizzeria in La Jolla, CA (http://regentspizza.com).  Adults can purchase all you can eat pizza tickets for $25 each at the restaurant between 12 p.m. and 8 p.m., with all funds raised donated to San Diego Hospice and The Institute for Palliative Medicine.  Several local area bands are expected to play, and the restaurant will be donating all profits generated that day to the nonprofit organization. A silent auction with gifts donated from the community will also take place. Ananda added, “We want to raise money to ensure that other families can benefit from the critical services Hospice provides.” Donations to San Diego Hospice can also be made as part of this fundraiser at: https://donate.sdhospice.org/stephencarson.

San Diego Hospice offers programs and services that aid families, children and individuals living with a serious or life-limiting illness, as well as coping with losing someone to old age or disease. Camp Erin San Diego brings together up to 150 children each year for an overnight stay in the mountains, where kids interact and play with other children who have also lost someone important in their lives. Additionally, Grief Street is a weekly support meeting for family members working through death-associated loss. San Diego Hospice also serves as an educational center in Hillcrest for training physicians, clinicians and health care professionals in pain management and grief counseling with a whole-family mindset. The Takeda California donation and the Carson fundraiser proceeds will be used to further enhance San Diego Hospice’s training and grief and loss support programs.

Since 1977, San Diego Hospice, a nonprofit organization, has been caring for families and individuals throughout San Diego County, and currently provides an array of health services for dying individuals and grief counseling for their families and friends who have experienced trauma or emotional stress as a result. Care is usually provided in a patient’s home, or wherever the patient resides, by a trained team of health care professionals who bring compassionate, expert medical care to more than 1,000 seriously ill adults and children each day. “We understand that the end-of-life journey can be difficult,” said Kathleen Pacurar, President and CEO of San Diego Hospice and The Institute for Palliative Medicine. “Our patient and family care services, including our comprehensive grief and loss support programs, let community members know that they are not alone. We are here to help.”

“Assisting people is our life’s work,” said Keith Wilson, Takeda California President. “Through drug discovery research we have a goal to defeat the diseases that touch people throughout the world. We are thankful for, and happy to support, San Diego Hospice San Diego Hospice and The Institute for Palliative Medicine for their efforts to ease the suffering of individuals, and their children and families.”

Takeda California employees improve and save lives by designing innovative new medicines to treat cancer, diabetes and arthritis. Its scientists use leading technologies to take pictures of human proteins involved in disease and then use those pictures to invent new drugs. The staff also mobilizes frequent company-wide community efforts to help local nonprofit organizations, schools and the environment.

About San Diego Hospice and The Institute for Palliative Medicine