March 13th 2008
McDreamy Unveils New Patrick Dempsey Cancer Center
Filed under: donations — michael @ 9:31 am
Remember on Grey’s Anatomy when Izzie (played by Katherine Heigl) donated her inheritance to open up the Denny Duquette Memorial Clinic? In an instance of life imitating art, Patrick Dempsey — who plays Dr. Derek Shepherd on the hit show — was on hand Monday to dedicate the opening of The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing at the Central Maine Medical Center. The actor was inspired to create the center after his mother’s continuous battles with ovarian cancer.
“For a family to get a cancer diagnosis is devastating, and all the information out there can be overwhelming,” said Dempsey. “A lot of the websites I went to just didn’t have enough information. So I talked to my sister about a place where people could go for all this type of information and help. Knowledge is power.”
Dempsey’s sister, who currently works at the hospital, will run the center. Patrick will also lend time taking part in the center’s education campaign about how to prevent and detect cancer.
These are the types of donations of both time and money that I can really get behind. It’s wonderful when a celebrity’s influence and cash immediately start benefiting those in need. So many times, you wonder where all the money is going. Nice work.
[…] Patrick Dempsey wasn’t the only famous celeb opening a new medial center this week. Down in Australia, Jackie Chan opened a science education center at an Australian cancer research clinic; dedicated in the actor’s name. Chan’s father, Charlie, lived in Aussie for more than 40 years. Organizers did not reveal how much Jackie donated to the new center, but did indicate that the sum was “substantial”. [via StarPulse] No Comments […]