D-Backs Raise $1.5 Million to Launch Nicole Hazen Fund for Hope
The Arizona Diamondbacks raised $1.5 million to launch the Nicole Hazen Fund For Hope in support of the world-class physicians and researchers at Barrow Neurological Institute and Ivy Brain Tumor Center in Phoenix.
The fund was started with a $250,000 donation from D-backs ownership that makes up the general partnership group, comprised of Ken Kendrick, Mike Chipman and Jeff Royer. The fund received another $250,000 from the league office and the other 29 teams.
The funds were raised at Thursday’s 14th annual “Evening On The Diamond,” as the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation eclipsed $75 million in charitable contributions raised and donated to the Arizona community since the Foundation’s inception in 1997.
Nicole is the wife of Mike Hazen, D-backs Executive Vice President & General Manager, and mother of the couple’s four sons: John, Charlie, Teddy and Sam. All were in attendance at the gala for the emotional announcement, which was one of the highlights of the evening.
Nicole was diagnosed with glioblastoma in July 2020. She has been receiving treatment at Barrow and working with Dr. Nader Sanai and Dr. Ekokobe Fonkem in their relentless pursuit of cutting-edge therapies and treatment for glioblastoma, one of the deadliest cancers in the world.
The Nicole Hazen Fund For Hope will support their important work, including research and advancement in clinical trials – with the hope of offering more patients with aggressive brain tumors access to the best treatments for their case. The funds will be used to support the Ivy Brain Tumor Center’s clinical trials program, which is designed to rapidly identify new therapies for brain cancer.
The team said the Hazen family is deeply grateful for the individualized, passionate commitment and unyielding search for answers in the fight for Nicole. In the end, it will take commitment, innovation, research and discovery to empower these extraordinary Barrow pioneers to solve one of medicine’s most complex, incurable diseases.
Individuals interested in making a donation to the Nicole Hazen Fund for Hope may visit dbacks.com/nicolehazenfund.
For more information about the Ivy Brain Tumor Center, visit ivybraintumorcenter.org.
