SEATTLE — Barbra Streisand is best known for her decades-long musical career. However, she is also recognized for her desire to help and give back to the community through the founding of The Barbra Streisand Foundation. Established in 1986, Streisand has donated millions of dollars to various projects. Here are three organizations that the Barbra Streisand Foundation has donated to that are helping people worldwide:
Cambodian Children’s Fund
The Cambodian Children’s Fund believes that by providing children with education and support, those children can grow up to be amazing contributors to society by not only bringing their families out of poverty but by bringing forth changes that can positively affect their whole community. With encouragement, these children can develop the skills they need to improve their family’s living situation.
Since 2004, The Cambodian Children’s Fund has worked with some of the most impoverished communities in Cambodia. Unfortunately, these communities used to be home to the former garbage dump at Steung Meanchey. At first, the fund focused on 45 children who lived at the dump, making sure they were receiving the education and medical attention that they desperately needed. Thanks to their hard work and dedication, 2,000 children now have emerged from the dump as students striving for a better future.
“Our 64 projects in the six core program areas – Education, Community Outreach, Leadership, Career and Life Skills, Healthcare and Childcare–are designed to address these issues, and provide families and communities with the support that they need.”
Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation
The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) developed the Precision Medicine model, which ensures that every patient is receiving the correct treatment based on their specific needs.
Patients input their data into the Data Bank. The more data that is placed into the bank, the more information the researchers and scientists have to know for treatment plans and answers to questions that patients might have. “It also helps us better understand the wide breadth of the clinical, immune and genomic drivers of multiple myeloma.”
The information placed in the bank is accessible by researchers and institutions in “The Learning Network” and helps these scientists as they conduct research in the clinic. This research is then placed into the data bank, resulting in more comprehensive, which in turn allows for better treatment for patients.
Along with the Precision Medicine model, The MMRF has designed the CoMMpass Study, whose goal is to connect every patient suffering from multiple myeloma to the treatment that is best suited for them with the hopes of using their results to make improvements for future cases.
So far, 1,150 patients from 90 sites worldwide have participated in this study: 846 from the U.S., 32 from Canada, 172 from Italy and 93 from Spain.
Bone marrow samples are taken at the beginning of the study, then again to see how the patient is responding to their treatment. Each patient has a check-up every six months for eight years. The results of this study have shown that patients who took triplet therapy (three medications) had better progression-free survival than who took doublet therapy (two medications).
Feminist Majority Foundation
The Feminist Majority Foundation is an organization that is dedicated to women’s equality, reproductive health and non-violence. The foundation’s Global Campaign not only fight for women’s rights domestically but globally, as well. “Women’s rights are human rights.”
The following are just some of the campaigns that the foundation is advocating for: “Afghan women and girls, women in Iran, increased funding for global sexual reproductive health and rights, the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), known as The Women’s Treaty, and the worldwide elimination of violence against women.”
Through her countless donations to hundreds of organizations, Barbra Streisand has put a spotlight on the communities that need the most help. Children of third-world countries, people dealing with life-threatening illnesses and women fighting for their voices to be heard have all received assistance due to the generous contributions of a philanthropist who is using her fame for the good of others.
– Sareen Mekhitarian
Photo: Flickr