Talk about a commute. Jamie Moyer plans to keep his home and the foundation named after him in Magnolia even though he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies (see letter on page 3).
The Moyer Foundation was formed in 2000, said Sandy Murray, the organization's communications director. "The foundation came out of Karen and Jamie's passion for caring for children in distress," she of the all-star pitcher and his wife.
Jamie and Karen Moyer financed the start of the foundation, which is located above the Porcelain Gallery in Magnolia Village. "But most of our funds are raised with public support," Murray said.
The nonprofit foundation has been remarkably successful, too. "Over the past five years, the foundation has raised more than $9 million to support children in distress through grants and our key initiatives," she said.
Set up in 2003, one of the key initiatives is The Gregory Fund. It was named after Gregory Chaya, who suffered from leukemia when he was 2 in 1993.
Moyer paid him a visit in the Baltimore hospital where he was being treated with a bone-marrow transplant. Chaya relapsed in 1994, but a second transplant at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle cured his cancer, and it has never returned.
The fund named after the boy is dedicated to raising funds and awareness for early cancer detection research. The Moyer Foundation made a contribution of $1.5 million to it in 2004, according to the foundation's Web site.
Another of the foundation's initiatives is Camp Erin. Actually, there are seven of them in five different states, and they are bereavement camps for children who have lost loved ones, Murray said.
"Our third initiative is The Moyer Foundation Endowment for Excellence in Pediatric Palliative Care at Children's Hospital," she said.
Palliative means that pain and symptoms are alleviated without eliminating the cause, and the program provides medical, psychological, social and logistical services for children with life-limiting illness-es, according to the foundation's Web site.
One of the main fundraising efforts is Catch a Cure for Cancer, Murray said. "That supports the Gregory Fund."
A month-long effort that concluded last weekend, it included a radiothon on WARM 106.9 and a celebrity-waiters-and-auction event at the Union Square Grill.
"It was great; we raised over $400,000," she said.
Jamie Moyer typically doesn't have much to do with day-to-day operations at the foundation, but his wife does, Murray said. "Karen is very involved. Karen is in every day."
And the Moyers don't plan on changing their minds about leaving Magnolia, Murray added.
"No matter where Jamie plays, Seattle is home for them and home for the foundation."
Staff reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com or 461-1309.
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