HONOLULU — On February 26, the University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center received a $50,000 gift from the Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The auxiliary's president, Gwen Rankin presented the check to Drs. Jeffrey Berenberg and Erin Bantum at the group's mid-year conference.
Dr. Jeffrey Berenberg is the former chief of the Hematology-Oncology Program at Tripler Army Medical Center and currently serves as a civilian physician at the facility. He is also principal investigator of the Hawaiʻi Minority-Based Community Cancer Program, principal investigator for the Southwest Oncology Group, and a professor in the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at the UH Cancer Center. Dr. Erin Bantum is an assistant professor in the Cancer Prevention and Control Program.
President Rankin, who was born and raised in Hawaiʻi, is proud of the meaningful collaboration between the UH Cancer Center and the Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. During the check presentation, she announced that to date the Ladies Auxiliary VFW has supported more than 100 research centers with the $100 million they have raised for cancer research since 1947 through their Cancer Aid and Research Program.
The Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars was established in 1914 and boasts 520,000 members throughout the United States, Germany, Guam and Panama. Its members live by the motto, "Honor the dead by helping the living." The Ladies Auxiliary VFW members serve U.S. veterans and our communities in honor of the sacrifices and commitment made by all who have served in uniform. The Hawaiʻi chapter of the Ladies Auxiliary VFW has nearly 450 members throughout the islands.
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