HEALTH

Raising money for the next generation of cancer researchers

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah-based charity 5 For The Fight is hoping to raise another $1.5 million to fund nine research positions next year at the University of Utah’s Huntsman Cancer Institute.

Lori Morency Kun from Qualtrics, the company behind the online crowd-sourcing campaign, says it can be tough to raise money during a pandemic. But the need for cancer researchers is still there. 

“There’s just so many stories coming out of researchers not having the resources that they need. So, I think that we’ve been able to create a little bit of a space for people to fund cancer research in a way that feels good to them,” Morency Kun says. 

That includes various social media or fitness challenges. 

This is not the first time 5 For The Fight has raised money for the next generation of cancer researchers. They have raised $1.5 million to fund the cancer researcher positions at the Huntsman Cancer Institute this year and recently did so in Dublin, Ireland as well to honor an employee who lost his battle with cancer.  

Morency Kun says at least two of the cancer researchers come from diverse backgrounds. 

“Where we have diverse minds, we’ll have a diversity of thought in the field of cancer research, and we want to make sure that everyone is represented in that field,” Morency Kun says. 

People who are interested in donating can go to www.5forthefight.org.