Trustees/Supporters

Trustees

President: Benjamin D. Seckler, MD
Treasurer: Earl Kramer
Secretary: Karen Climo
Board of Directors:
Kathe Kramer Chase
Randy Reiff
Tracy Kramer Seckler
Ellen Wilner

Scientific Advisory Board

Justin Fallon, Ph.D
Thomas A. Rando, MD PhD

Charley’s Angels ($50,000+)

Jeff and Margo Barbakow 
Darius Goes West had its world premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in January 2007. The film won the first of many, many film festival awards that night. Nightline was there, and so were the Barbakows. They were deeply touched by the film and the dedication of Logan Smalley, his family, and his amazing crew to make a difference in the lives of families affected by DMD. “After meeting the Secklers and learning about how they have launched an attack on DMD, we knew we wanted to help them fight the fight,” says Margo. “We are the parents of two healthy sons. We want to be there to hear Charley proclaimed healthy.”

Emily Blavatnik

Dann and Susan Boeschen
Dann and Susan Boeschen were introduced to Charley’s Fund by their friends the Lefflers and Schneiders of Seattle whose little boy Aidan was diagnosed with DMD in 2006. Wanting to help Aidan and his family, they first spent time researching the foundations and institutions focused on DMD and decided the goals, focus and operating methods of Charley’s Fund most closely matched their interests and beliefs. “The focus on cutting edge research and the tremendous progress being made as a result gives us great hope that there will be a cure in time to save Aidan and Charley and the thousands of other little boys of their generation.” Susan reports that she wears her Charley’s Fund “Believe” bracelet every day to remind herself and others of this conviction.

Capano Family Foundation

Jeremy Chase
When Charley’s cousin Jeremy became a bar-mitzvah in January 2006, he decided to forgo gifts in lieu of donations to Charley’s Fund. What could have been a bonanza of electronic goodies and savings for college turned into a major charitable gift of $56,400. Jeremy’s passion for Charley’s Fund has inspired some of his friends to get involved by donating bar-mitzvah money, selling tank tops, and speaking at school assemblies about our fight for a cure. A ninth grader at the Dalton School, Jeremy enjoys baseball, soccer, reading and besting his top scores on his favorite video games.

Xander Chase

Sophie Craighead
Sophie lives in Kelly, Wyoming with her husband Derek, a wildlife biologist, two wonderful teenagers, and 5 dogs! She first heard of Charley’s Fund when watching Darius Goes West, which won the Audience Choice Award at the Jackson Hole Film Festival, along with 25 other film festival awards in 2007. Sophie is committed to helping others have a better life and Charley won her heart. She is able to help out because of her family’s foundation, the Charles W. Engelhard Foundation.

Warren and Mitzi Eisenberg

Theo Gund
Theo Gund learned about Charley’s Fund in March 2007 when she saw the documentary film Darius Goes West. Theo’s generous gift will help spread awareness of DMD and Charley’s Fund across the country by supporting Darius Goes West: Learn About It! This program, to be initiated in Sept. 2008, will bring the film and related lesson plans and fundraising activities to middle and high schools around the nation. We are confident that Theo’s extremely generous gift will inspire school communities all over America join our fight for a cure.

Matt’s Promise Foundation
Matt’s Promise is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of young people affected by cancer and other terminal illnesses. A key goal of this foundation is to find a cure or treatment for the #1 genetic killer of children worldwide, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

The organization was founded by Matt Weiderkehr in July 2004, two months before he died of colon cancer at 33 years of age. Having been diagnosed himself with an incurable cancer, he desperately wanted to help other young people by commuting their medical death sentence. To date, Matt’s Promise has granted $2,650,000 to Charley’s Fund.

The Olson Foundation
Brian and Jill Olson learned about Charley’s Fund at a fundraising dinner hosted by college friends in Darien, CT. The Olson Foundation supports non-profits that either demonstrate or hold the promise of true, measurable impact. Charley’s Fund fits that bill by funding translational research, research that moves the science from the laboratory into human clinical trials. “When we look at Charley’s Fund, we are proud to get behind such intelligent, single-minded devotion toward curing a terrible disease,” Jill says. “This is what we are most excited about–that Charley will be speaking about the benefits of medical research well into old age.”
Greenwich, CT

Randy Reiff.
Senior Managing Director at Bear Stearns, Randy generously committed a matching grant of $250,000. This motivational tool helped raise more than $600,000 for Charley’s Fund. Randy is also the President of Matt’s Promise, a foundation devoted to making a difference in the lives of terminally ill young people. A key goal of Matt’s Promise is to cure DMD.

Bernie and Elaine Roberts

Tom and Angie Wicka
Tom and Angie Wicka of Minneapolis are the parents of Nash Avery Wicka, an eight-year-old boy who shares Charley’s diagnosis. The Wickas have provided significant support to ensure that the research moves as quickly as possible. Through the Nash Avery Foundation, named for their son, the Wickas have partnered with Charley’s Fund to play a major role in the development of DMD treatments.

Mel and Enid Zuckerman. 
Owners of Canyon Ranch Spas, the Zuckermans are world-famous proponents of healthy lifestyles. We are deeply indebted to them for their donation of $100,000. To leverage their own financial support, the Zuckermans have reached out to friends, colleagues and the Canyon Ranch community seeking additional support for Charley’s Fund.

Charley’s Champions ($25,000+)

Lawrence and Allison Fehrenbaker
Michael and Diane Gooch
Alex Israel
Earl and Janet Kramer
Jay and Jen Mantz
Mark and Betsy Seckler
Solomon Seckler
Worldwide Pants, Inc.

Founding Supporters ($5,000+)

We are extremely grateful to the following donors who became Founding Supporters of Charley’s Fund with a minimum one-time gift of $5,000 during our first three years. These generous contributions helped get Charley’s Fund off to a very successful start. Thank you for giving us such a huge push coming out of the gates. We are proud to permanently list you as Founding Supporters here and on our letterhead. If you would like to become a Founding Supporter, please click here.

Anonymous (2)
Glenn and Debbie August
Margo Baker Barbakow
Matthew and Brooke Barzun
Lawrence and Carolyn Belfer
Bruce and Barbara Berger
Jonathan and Marjaleena Berger
Nick and Stacy Branca
Dan and Carole Burack
James and Patricia Cayne
CIBC World Market Corp.
Jeremy Chase
Reid and Kathe Chase
Nicholas and Andrea Chermayeff
Jim Click
Irwin and Jill Cohen
Jerrold Cohen
Leslie Cornfeld
Lev Dassin and Betsy Kramer
The Davidson/Krueger Family
Jimmy and Nancy DeMattei
Anthony and Pamela Diaco
Aaron Edelheit
David Elbaum and Kim Cooper
Congregation Emanu-El
Andrew and Sandi Farkas
Lawrence and Allison Fehrenbaker
Jerrold and Sally Fine
Scott and Kristin Fine
Mark and Lisa Finerman
Hank and Tibby Fischer
Martin and Susan Fischer
John and Christine Fitzgibbons
Ken and Vicki Freedman
Wes and Dee Frye
Victor and Linda Gaines
Paula Glatzer
Charley Gold and Peri Wolfman
Robert and Emily Goldberg
Robert and Valerie Goldfein
Michael and Diane Gooch
Gould Family Foundation
Robert and Sarah Greenhill
Peter and Gussie Greer
Stewart Gross and Lois Perelson-Gross
Steve Hafner
Joshua and Marjorie Harris
Daniel and Judy Hees
Peter and Ann Herbst
Ronald Hersch
Lance and Janelle Hester
David and Carly Hirsch
Jay and Kelly Sugarman Foundation
Joan and Paul Johnson
Dale and Sherry Jones
Sam Kaplan
Russ Karp and Jamie Rusek
Gerald and Carol Kaufman
Denis and Rachel Kelleher
C. Jay and Melissa Keller
Richard Keller and Pam Schuman
Heywood and Claire Knopf
Stewart and Donna Kohl
Earl and Janet Kramer
Lucy Kramer
Dean and Mara Landis
Marc and Cathy Lasry
Peter Lattman
Aidan Leffler
Steven and Carolann Leffler
Baesuk, Miyong, and John Lee
Chip and Molly Linehan
Margaret and Daniel Loeb-Third Point Foundation
Bruce J. Mactas
John and Tracy Mallory
Paul and Lauren Mandell
Jay and Jen Mantz
Peter and Leni May
Jonathan and Amy Meltzer
David Merzin and Anastasia Portnoy
Matt and Diana Milkowski
Adam and Michelle Miller
Gerry and Mary Millman
Jeff and Lauren Morris
Stephen and Sandra Muss
Albert and Jane Nahmad
John L. Neu Family Foundation
Howard and Joan Oestreich
The Orsi Family
Jonathan Oxenberg
Eric Perlmutter
Tom and Tracy Peterson
Ted and Karen Philip
Steve and Lisa Plavin
Steve and Helice Picheny
Bernard and Nancy Portnoy
Evelyn Pozez
Ben Radutzky
Richard and Leslye Radutzky
Lawrence and Lee Ramer
Randy Reiff
Timothy and Patti Reilly
Peter and Hilary Richards
Bernie and Elaine Roberts and Family
Allan and Nina Rodolitz
The Rogers Family
Rich Romero and Jennifer Portnoy
Charles and Phyllis Rosenthal
Michael and Lauren Rosenthal
Peter and Laura Rothschild
Rowan Family Foundation
Laurie L Rozet
Lois Rozet
Alan Sappol
Benjamin and Tracy Seckler
Clare Seckler
Jonathan and Allison Seckler
Mark and Betsy Seckler
Solomon Seckler
Gillian Segal
Jack and Alison Schneider
John and Judy Schneider
Sinai Academy of the Berkshires
Marcia Singer
Adam and Wendy Slutsky
Ted Stachtiaris and Meridith Sopher
Gregory and Laura Spivy
Oliver and Elizabeth Stanton
TD Securities
Seth and Angie Taube
Michael and Suzanne Tauckus
Robert and Andrea Tucker
Matthew and Melissa Ufirer
The Ungar Foundation
Steve and Grace Voorhis
Henry and Beate Voremberg
Michael and Anna Vranos
Gregg and Stacey Weinstein
Steve and Bonnie Wener
Jen Wiederkehr
Alex and Laura Wolfman
Phil Wolman
Tony and Cornelia Woods
Strauss Zelnick and Wendy Belzberg
Michael and Holly Zimmerman

Names in red are our newest additions to our family of Founding Supporters.