NEWS RELEASE

June 3, 2008 

Teen Creates New Prom Tradition for High Schoolers with Cancer Birmingham High Senior Honors Friend’s Memory with a Night to Remember @ California Science Center  Friday June 7th from 7 - 10:30 p.m.

LOS ANGELES - Local teenage cancer patients get to leave their illness behind for the night and celebrate at the prom - just like other high school students - at a gala organized for the second year by a Birmingham High senior who lost his best friend to cancer.

“Shiri and I planned to go to prom together but unfortunately she did not live long enough to do so,” says 17-year-old Frederick Scarf about his friend, Shiri Gumbiner, who passed away at the age of 15 from Osteosarcoma. 

Osteosarcoma is a type of bone cancer that commonly affects teens experiencing a growth spurt.  Organizing the prom is part of Scarf’s wider efforts to help find a cure to the disease.

Most of the 28 teens attending the event are too sick to attend their own school proms so Scarf has once again created a celebration that works with their needs. 

The Cirque de Soleil-themed event on Friday June 7 was made possible through donations Scarf solicited throughout the Southland. WOW! Special Events, which specializes in high school parties, collaborated with Scarf again after last year’s success. They secured from vendors all the ingredients needed for a great prom - a DJ and dance floor, dinner and dessert, a magician, caricaturist and photographer.

For weeks, Scarf reached out to local hospitals and support groups to find teens who may want to attend the prom.  He sent invitations to hospital directors, WeSpark, Starlight Starbright Foundation, Make-A-Wish, Children’s Hospital of Orange County, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, UCLA and City of Hope.

 “Normally if you see a teen who is a cancer patient, you will feel bad for them and tend to baby them,’ says Scarf.  “I understood Shiri’s condition but I never babied her. I want other teens to look past the attendee’s condition and develop authentic friendships.”

While Scarf, who heads to UC Berkeley in the fall, will attend his own school prom, it’s the prom inspired by his best friend that he holds close to his heart.

This prom is just one part of Scarf’s ongoing ventures to raise awareness of Osteosarcoma. He started the Shiri Foundation to honor his friend and to help fund promising research for a cure. Learn more about the Shiri Foundation at www.Shiri.org.

Prom Held  Friday June 7th, 2008  7 - 10:30 p.m.

California Science Center 700 Exposition Park Drive, Los Angeles