I have been reading and following President Barack Obama for some time now. He is a remarkable leader. The PMHF is coming up to our end of fiscal year at the end of March. I am delighted to report it has been a record year for the foundation. An extraordinary year really. As I reflect back on my blog postings, the Ride to Conquer Cancer, the Brazilian Ball, the de Souza Nursing Institute, the events, the Campbell Family Institute, the Weekend to End Breast Cancer…..so so many great news stories from this year. Without question, we are in a very tough economy and I know our volunteers, donors, supporters, patients and staff are all feeling it. What I am always reminded of here is that feeling of being “hopeful.” We had a PMHF team meeting this morning, as we do every second Monday. We had cake and coffee (donated by Starbucks; thanks Starbucks) in order to celebrate the “record breaking year” we are just wrapping up. As I listened to the team and their individual updates, I was struck by how hopeful we all are. We are hopeful of continued excellence in research, clinical care and education at The Princess Margaret, we are hopeful of our relationships and the support from our community of supporters. It’s easy to get spooked right now with all the bad economic news, but the PMHF remains totally and unabashedly “hopeful.” We are grateful to our volunteers, donors, staff and most importantly, the patients we serve for helping “inspire this hope.” I therefore sign off, not with Barack Obama’s famous “Audacity of Hope” but my wish for all who read this to be “Inspired by Hope.” Being hopeful is a lot more fun and rewarding than being gloomy, angry, or frightened! Do something this week to make someone else “hopeful”!!!