Supporting Damon Runyon scientists for over 25 years
A retired airline pilot and lover of the arts, D.G. “Mitch” Mitchell has supported young Damon Runyon scientists through direct donations, sponsored awards, and planned gifts for more than 25 years.
“I grew up in the Depression and my mother supported us on forty dollars a week, so being frugal wasn’t something I had to learn,” he recalled. “By the time I retired, it was obvious that I could start giving away money.”
Mitch started researching organizations and was impressed by Damon Runyon’s reputation within the scientific community, as well as its high rating on sites like Charity Navigator and GuideStar.
“Look how many Nobel Prizes Damon Runyon scientists have won. You all do such amazing things, and you can’t do it unless you’re funded,” he said. “And my gosh, everybody seems to know somebody with cancer.”
As a longtime donor, Mitch has been able to attend Damon Runyon events over the years and meet some of our scientists. He has heard firsthand how difficult it can be for early-career scientists to get funded for high-risk, high-reward projects—those that might fail, but might also result in a major breakthrough. Listening to the scientists report exciting, potentially life-saving developments in their research, he was proud to have supported them when they needed funding most.
In fact, in 2022, Mitch was inspired to sponsor a scientist, establishing the D.G. ‘Mitch’ Mitchell Clinical Investigator Award to support an early-career physician-scientist conducting patient-oriented research. The Award’s recipient, Kavita Y. Sarin, MD, PhD, went on to receive a continuation grant to advance her groundbreaking work on the genetic mechanisms of skin cancer.
In addition to making direct donations and sponsoring an award, Mitch has included Damon Runyon as a beneficiary in his retirement plan. Recently, he made the decision to include the Foundation in his will. When asked how he arrived at this decision, he said it was not difficult.
“If an individual gets a sudden windfall, they generally blow it in two years. And what do they have to show for it, a bigger house and a bigger car? But if that money is invested in Damon Runyon, a researcher may come up with an idea that helps many people for a long time. So I think giving your money to cancer research is pretty smart. It can pay real dividends.”
