Life Raft Group Hosts 'Life Fest 2014,' Turns 100K Origami Boats into 3D Nautical Experience Nov. 7

The Life Raft Group, a leading gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) advocacy organization based in Wayne, launched an education program that used origami boats as a way to raise awareness to GIST and asked people to make and mail in origami boats as a way to raise awareness.

Since then, cancer survivors and supporters from across the U.S. to as far away as Mumbai, Venezuela, Mexico and Brazil, worked together and contributed more than 100,000 origami boats to show people with GIST that they are not alone - others are in the same boat.

Now, members of the public are invited to “Life Fest 2014,” the group’s annual fundraiser, on Friday, Nov. 7 at 5 p.m. in Teaneck to see how volunteers will transform the 100,000 origami boats into a 3-D nautical experience that will bring the ocean to life.

Life Fest 2014 will be held at the Teaneck Marriott at Glenpointe, located at 100 Frank W. Burr Boulevard in Teaneck.

“By encouraging people around the world to participate in the origami challenge, we hope to show an incredible outpouring of global support for people with GIST – a rare type of cancer,” said Norman Scherzer, Executive Director of the Life Raft Group. “The more awareness we can create for GIST, the more programs and research we can provide and the closer we can get to a cure for this often misdiagnosed disease.”

GIST is a rare cancer of the gastrointestinal tract, which belongs to the general class of cancers called sarcomas. Sarcomas are a group of rare cancers that occur in certain tissues, such as bone or muscle. In the United States, approximately 5,000 new cases of GIST are diagnosed each year. Approximately 75-90 percent of GIST are limited to a single site at the time of diagnosis, and about 10-25 percent are metastatic (meaning the disease has spread to other parts of the body) at the time of diagnosis.

The Life Raft Group is a non-profit organization that has a simple focus: to cure a form of cancer known as GIST and to help those living with it until then. To do this, The Life Raft Group focuses on three key areas: research, patient support and education, and advocacy, which lay the foundation of our mission to ensure the survival of GIST patients through a comprehensive approach connecting individual patients’ needs, the worldwide community of GIST advocates and the global health and research environment.

To learn more about The Life Raft Group, visit www.LifeRaftGroup.org.