McKinley School Children's Gift to Fox Chase Cancer Center Honors Teacher Fred Gellard, Who Died of Cancer

PHILADELPHIA (April 21, 1998) -- Student Council members from McKinley Elementary School in Elkins Park, Pa. - Julie Shenk, fifth grade; Tom Kelly, sixth grade; Andrew McGinley, sixth grade; Mina Cha, fifth grade; Jackie Young, sixth grade; and Ali Georgiou, sixth grade - visited a Fox Chase Cancer Center laboratory recently to present a $500 check to Dr. Mitchell R. Smith for research on lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system.

The gift, part of the proceeds from a raffle at the McKinley School Parent-Teacher Organization's family game night, honors the memory of the students' former teacher Fred Gellard of Jamison, Pa. Gellard, 55, a McKinley School teacher for 25 years, most recently taught second grade there. He died of lymphoma last October. Smith, director of the Center's lymphoma service, was among his physicians.

Fox Chase Cancer Center is one of 32 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the nation. The Center's activities include basic and clinical research, prevention, detection and treatment of cancer and community outreach programs.