Meet Julie Gundlach at the Muny to Promote Asbestos Awareness for Earth Day

This Sunday, Julie Gundlach, a client of the firm, will organize an asbestos awareness booth at the 22^nd Annual St. Louis Earth Day Festival in Forest Park. The booth is called the International Mesothelioma & Asbestos Awareness booth and is located under the covered walkway by the St. Louis Muny.

Julie will distribute information about asbestos and mesothelioma and collect signatures to support a U.S. ban on asbestos. She will then take those signatures to our congressional representatives later this summer when she travels to Washington for the MARF conference.

She is looking for additional volunteers to help gather signatures or for people to stop by and sign the petition anytime between 10:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. They'll be there all day. If you don’t have plans, please consider attending and helping out as this is a great opportunity to tell people about the environmental dangers of asbestos exposure.

St. Louis’ Earth Day is reputed to be one of the largest celebrations of the holiday in the country. This year more than 200 artists, educational exhibitors, food vendors, businesses and organizations will set up booths throughout Forest Park. Other special events include live musical performances, a Mississippi River barge trip and a recycling extravaganza.

Earlier this month, Julie was awarded the Alan Reinstein Award by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization for her commitment to spreading awareness about the dangers of asbestos exposure and mesothelioma. The St. Louis Earth Day is one of the many advocacy initiatives, like Miles for Meso, that she does in the St. Louis area.

During the 7th Annual Asbestos Disease Awareness Conference, Julie shared her story and encouraged others to get involved through a presentation called "The Power of Public Health Advocacy: A Patient's Perspective." It's easy for everyone to dismiss the power they have to make a difference, especially when they're going up against businesses who have been using asbestos for decades. But Julie's story, and this presentation, is encouraging. She's only one person, but through her work, a difference is being made.

Running Toward a Cure for Mesothelioma

Running is hard. Living with cancer is harder, especially when that cancer ismesothelioma.

Saturday, I ran in the second Alton Miles for Meso 5K race, sponsored by the firm. I was privileged to run it alongside our client Julie Gundlach who is a mesothelioma survivor. This year we both decided to challenge ourselves and run the course instead of cheering from the sidelines like last year.

Alton, while historically beautiful, is basically one big hill with the Mississippi River at the bottom. It is a tough course. Some of the corporate runners who came from Kansas City told our race director that even they were impressed with its degree of difficulty.

Before the race started, Julie gave a short speech about living with a mesothelioma diagnosis and thanked everyone for coming. As she finished, she joked about being a slow runner. She got a laugh before saying, “I hate running, but I look at it as, ‘I get to do this.’ My husband and daughter were running and they’re faster than me. But to have them run with me is awesome.”

One of our local newspapers, The Alton Telegraph, ran a story about the race featuring Julie later that afternoon. Reading it you learn she’s a 49-month survivor and that she has mesothelioma in her abdomen, as opposed to the lungs. She has undergone numerous surgeries and extensive chemotherapy.

As Julie crossed the finish line, about 40 minutes after we started, people cheered.

Working with people and families impacted by this terminal cancer every day, I want to also remember those who couldn’t be there.  Looking out over the crowd Saturday, I saw too many familiar faces belonging to family members who lost their loved ones to this terrible disease. Those are the people who inspire me.

Running is hard, but it’s worth it because we’re running toward a cure.

Charity Work Makes No Easy Money

Earlier this month, I headed to Sunset Hills Country Club in Edwardsville, Ill., to compete in the Simmons Employee Foundation’s 6^th Annual Golf Tournament 4-man scramble. The tournament benefited two Madison County charities that help people diagnosed with disabilities, New Opportunities, Inc., in Granite City, and Madison County Challenger Baseball.

That Friday, Sept. 17, was a beautiful day. Not a rain cloud in the sky and the air had just the right amount of chill for a September morning. When a day is that gorgeous, it’s easy to not realize just how much work goes into planning and executing a fundraising event like this. As an employee foundation board member, I’d like to thank everyone who worked hard to make the tournament an enjoyable and relaxing event for those who participated. I’d also like to highlight a few instances that deserve specific recognition.

To the volunteers who arrived at 6 a.m. to set up and manned the registration table throughout the day, thank you. Without your patience, attention for details and traffic directing skills, the tournament would not have gone as smoothly.

To Sunset Hills Country Club and it's staff, thank you for the use of your beautiful course and for your hospitality and hard work to make sure everything – from the little details like providing morning coffee to the bigger jobs like preparing lunch and dinner – ran smoothly.

A very special thank you goes to our sponsors, especially to our lone platinum sponsor Acropolis, without them the day would not have been possible. In addition, thank you to all the hole sponsors whose markers helped everybody navigate through Sunset Hills Country Club’s beautiful, but twisty course. Without their support, we all would have been literally lost.

To the firm’s grill masters Charlie Thompson and Mike Kirby, thank you for keeping the dogs ‘n’ brats in full supply throughout the day. Not much can compare to the smell of BBQ wafting across the green come lunch time. 

To the ladies who manned the “Deal or No Deal” table, thank you for your winning smiles. With your help, the golfers raised about an extra $1,000 for the charities and, hopefully, improved their final scores.

And, finally, to the volunteers from Clover Leaf Bank and our charities, thank you for watching, even when the tournament ran late, as none of the golfers won the hole-in-one prizes. I hope you had as much fun witnessing our failed attempts at snagging the elusive hole-in-one title as we did making them.

I guess that hole-in-one will have to wait until next time. But until then, the charities were the real winners, and that’s what’s important.

It's good to give green: SEF presents $210k to area charities

In the words of Abraham Lincoln, “when I do good, I feel good” and recently I couldn’t feel anything but good about the support the Simmons Employee Foundation provides to area charities. 

Simmons Employee Foundation president David Bamper and I had the honor of presenting two checks each for $105,000 to the Catholic Children’s Home in Alton and The William M. BeDell Achievement and Resource Center in Wood River. The money was raised during the foundation’s 4^th Annual Dinner Auction this past spring.

 Gary Osborne, executive director of ARC, told me his organization plans to use part of the donation to buy a new, 14-passenger van. 

Steven Roach, executive director of Catholic Charities, the umbrella organization of the Catholic Children’s Home, said they expect to put the money toward renovating and updating their 87-year-old building.

The work these two organizations do to provide safe environments for children, diagnosed with developmental disabilities or not, is undeniably important. They’re making our community a better place to live.

Learn more about these two charities and the dinner auction itself by reading my previous post.

Meso Foundation Symposium reminds me why I am a trial attorney

It never gets any easier. Every year I make my way to the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation's annual symposium, and every year I'm reminded of why I do what I do.

Each year, for three days, the mesothelioma community gathers in Washington D.C. to exchange medical and scientific updates, network with other allies in the fight to cure meso, and visit The Hill to ask our congressmen and women to allocate funds for mesothelioma research.

Friday evening, they have a tribute ceremony with a huge display of names etched on to a tribute wall. Our firm has a lot of names on that wall. I, personally, have represented a lot of names on that wall. Too many.

So why does this annual pilgrimage relate to being a trial attorney? Because we all play a part in this small but special community, and I know my role well. My job is to fight for the rights of individuals and families who have been wronged through no fault of their own. That's my contribution. And nothing inspires me more to keep fighting on their behalf than to have a good, hard look at that wall.

When you stand in a room with 300 people who have lost a loved one to mesothelioma, it puts things into perspective. Like how academia and the general public has labeled mesothelioma an “orphan” of cancers. When you consider us separately – the doctors, the victims, and the anti-stereotypical lawyers – maybe we are orphans, in a sense. Together, though, nothing could be further from the truth. We are united by this disease, and it feels very present and all too personal.

The hardest part about this tribute ceremony is that wall shouldn’t exist. Mesothelioma, which is caused by asbestos exposure, is a man made epidemic. Asbestos, ironically called the “miracle mineral” was heavily used from the 1930s through the 1970s in the manufacturing, shipping and construction industries. According to the most recent data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2004, approximately 2,700 Americans die annually from mesothelioma, and experts expect that number to continue increasing through 2025.

Companies who made asbestos knew the dangers, but ignored them. Instead they choose to barter their employees and their families’ lives for a bottom line. Because it takes between 10 and 50 years from the time of exposure to develop a meso diagnosis, the full ramifications of asbestos exposure remain hidden until it is too late. Meanwhile, the general public remains unaware that products being used in 2010 – like some automobile parts, certain construction materials and pipe insulation – still contain asbestos.

One fact is certain. The dangers of asbestos exposure were known as long ago as the 1950s, and we still don't have a full ban, and we definitely don't have enough support for research.

The Meso Foundation, which celebrates its 10-year anniversary this year, provides a gathering place for those who have been impacted by mesothelioma. Those who have been diagnosed, families who’ve lost loved ones, lawyers who won’t tolerate injustice, and doctors who are passionate about conquering what medical experts consider the most aggressive cancer of all cancers.

MARF has helped raise awareness about these companies and the dangers of asbestos exposure. In addition, they’ve awarded 67 peer-reviewed grants for over $6.4 million. Those grants have resulted in 32 scientific publications credits, including the world’s most prestigious medical journal, The New England Journal of Medicine.

No one has done more to keep peoples’ names off that wall than MARF, and we at the Simmons Law Firm are proud to be their top supporter. We congratulate them for all the hard work they’ve done over the years to support the meso community. 

4th Annual SEF Dinner Auction Raises over $200k for Local Charities

Last Thursday night was a very special night for the Simmons Employee Foundation. We were able to help two local charities whose work improves the quality of life for so many children and families in the Madison County area.

I am writing to you, not as a partner, but as a board member of SEF.  I am humbled and thrilled to announce that the fourth annual SEF dinner auction raised over $200,000 for the Catholic Children's Home and The William M. BeDell Achievement and Resource Center. The money could not be going to a better cause.

These two organizations provide a safe environment where individuals diagnosed with developmental disabilities can learn and grow, and hopefully lead relatively normal lives. The Catholic Children’s Home also provides homes for troubled, abandoned, or neglected youth. Both charities will equally split the proceeds.

Of course, such a huge undertaking could not be done without help from our dedicated and generous employees. To quote John Simmons from the firm’s official annoucement, “It is inspiring that so many of our employees and friends, their families and other local businesses have given so generously.”

Thank you to everyone who made the dinner auction, which was attended by about 500 people, such a spectacular and elegant event.

One of the more special moments of the night was when a video was played by ARC. It’s inserted below. Watch it, and you’ll understand why SEF members have done all they can to support organizations like these.

SEF Hosts 5th Annual Golf Tournament for Children with Cancer

First things first, I write this post from my position as a board member of the Simmons Employee Foundation (SEF), not as partner of Simmons Browder Gianaris Angelides & Barnerd LLC. It has been my privilege to serve the SEF, a truly respected organization in our community made up of caring, charitable, dedicated, and hard-working employees of the Simmons Law Firm.

The firm’s leadership has recently recognized in this space the extraordinary efforts of the SEF, which has raised over one-half million dollars in just a handful of years. The recognition is much appreciated, as is the complete support the firm provides the employees in their philanthropic endeavors.

Again, as an SEF board member, I’m happy to announce that the organization continues to support those in need.

On Friday, September 18, the SEF will host its fifth annual golf tournament at Sunset Hills Country Club in Edwardsville, Ill. Foursomes are available for four-hundred dollars, single registrations for $100. The entry fee includes greens fee, cart rental, lunch or dinner, soda and beer on the course, and a complimentary gift. There are cash prizes for first- and second-place teams in three flights.

Now, bear with me. According to former American journalist and writer Westbrook Pegler, “Golf is the most useless outdoor game ever devised to waste the time and try the spirit of man.”

With apologies to Mr. Pegler, the SEF’s fifth annual golf tournament can, in fact, be the most useful outdoor activity you can participate in on Friday, September 18, and a true reflection of the spirit each of us bring as we reach out to help the children of H.I.S. K.I.D.S.

This event is for the children and families affected by childhood cancer. H.I.S. K.I.D.S. serves approximately 2,000 seriously ill children and family members each year from its locations in Highland, Ill., and Florida. All services are provided at no charge and without regard to race, creed, color, or financial ability.

I applaud SEF for identifying such a worthy organization. And I invite you to participate in and/or take advantage of sponsorship opportunities. One hundred percent of all net proceeds will benefit H.I.S. K.I.D.S.

I hope to see you on the course.

For more information, contact Lori Smith at 618-259-6102 or Yvette Scott at 618-259-6517.