Juniors Quinn and Margot Butler, Mr. Dave Butler, and Buying Time supporters at the fourth annual Buying Time Dinner at Winged Foot Country Club. Courtesy of buyingtime.org

Buying Time, a club at Convent of the Sacred Heart, is run by juniors Margot and Quinn Butler and based on Buying Time and the Danny Butler Memorial Fund. Mr. Dave Butler, Margot and Quinn’s father, founded Buying Time and the Danny Butler Memorial Fund in 2011 to honor his brother, Mr. Danny Butler, who lost his life to Stage 4 colorectal cancer in 2010.
The charitable foundation supports leading oncological researchers at Sloan Kettering Yale Cancer Center, University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. These physicians not only conduct studies and experiments for different types of cancer, but also directly treat patients. They have recently made breakthrough discoveries, according to buyingtime.org.
Buying Time and the Danny Butler Memorial Fund uses endowed funds, or money that is invested rather than distributed, so that investments can later be returned to fund cancer research for years to come.
The organization also raises money at the yearly auction hosted at Winged Foot Country Club in Mamaroneck, New York. November 14, over 250 people gathered for the fifth annual “Buying Time” dinner to donate their money and time to the cause.
Mr. Butler welcomed all attendees, especially special guest speakers, Mr. Tom Brokaw, Dr. Kenneth Anderson, and Mrs. Kathy Giusti.
Mr. Tom Brokaw, diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2013, gave the first speech of the evening. Multiple myeloma is an incurable, but treatable cancer. His speech highlighted his experiences over the past few years.
“My first thought [when I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma] was not about self pity or sorrow or panic, it was that my family is going to be okay,” Mr. Brokaw said.
Mr. Brokaw’s multiple myeloma doctor, Dr. Anderson, presented next. Dr. Anderson is the director of the Lebow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics and Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachussetts. Over the last three decades, Dr. Anderson has developed laboratory and animal models of the multiple myeloma tumor in its microenvironment and translated his findings to clinical trials. This culminated in FDA approval of novel targeted therapies, according to buyingtime.org.
“[Dr. Anderson] did not set out to be an expert on multiple myeloma, but he has become a leading authority,” Mr. Brokaw said. “I’m pleased to not only call him my doctor, but to call him as my friend.”
The final speaker was Mrs. Giusti who spoke about the effects of cancer on her own life. Mrs. Giusti is a also a patient with multiple myeloma and founded the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation in 1998, according to themmrf.org.
“Now is the absolute time to cure cancer. There’s no better time than now for all of us to work together,” Mrs. Giusti said. “We can cure cancer in Danny’s name.”
The fifth annual Buying Time fundraiser concluded with a live auction featuring items donated by supporters of the foundation.  Items from the auction included a Morocco Golf Experience, tickets to the 2017 Oscar de la Renta spring fashion show, a gourmet dinner for 10 with Chef Rhy—a chef at Winged Foot Country Club, two tickets to the 2016 Primetime Emmy Award Show, and many more.
“I went to the Buying Time fundraiser to support my friends, Margot and Quinn Butler, and the cause,” junior Molly Smith said. “I enjoyed listening to the 3 speakers and their stories. I think Buying Time is a great organization and I am very happy Margot and Quinn are giving back to our community.”
Margot and Quinn founded the Buying Time club at Sacred Heart to raise awareness about cancer and the effect it has on people across the world. Their goal is to raise as much money as possible to support further cancer research studies.
“We brought our club to Sacred Heart because we were inspired by how proactive our dad was and we wanted to try and make a difference like him,” Margot said.
Students interested in volunteering with Buying Time can contact Margot, [email protected], or Quinn, [email protected], to learn more about how they can help. Others interested in donating to the cause can visit buyingtime.org to contact the organization.
– Kathryn Allyn, Staff Writer