History of the Jimmy Fund

Einar Gustafson - the original "Jimmy"

The Jimmy Fund started in 1948 when the Variety Children's Charity of New England and the Boston Braves baseball team joined forces to help a 12-year-old cancer patient dubbed "Jimmy." On a national radio broadcast, millions heard the boy visit with his heroes from the Braves as they stood by his hospital bed. People everywhere sent contributions in to help buy Jimmy a television so he could watch the Braves play, launching an effort that continues to bring hope to thousands of children and adults facing cancer throughout the world today.

Listen to the May 22, 1948, broadcast

Gifts of all amounts poured in from thousands of people inspired to help Dr. Sidney Farber find a cure for childhood lymphoma. Since then, millions of people have joined the Jimmy Fund’s fight against cancer in adults and children at Dana-Farber.

Funding from the Jimmy Fund has enabled what was a small basement laboratory more than 70 years ago to grow into a world-renowned cancer center comprised of 4,000 faculty and staff responsible for cancer advances that have become the standard of cancer care and research around the world.

This incredible progress is possible thanks to the support of all the people who take part in hundreds of fundraising events each year and give generously. The collective efforts of Jimmy Fund communities — event participants, volunteers, and donors — have moved millions to join Dana-Farber in our relentless pursuit of a world without cancer.

Together, we're all Jimmy, and we can defy cancer.

Read more about "Jimmy" and the history of the Jimmy Fund.