US Veteran Brain Injury News
Cadence Selects 'Home Away from Home' for Veterans' Families as Beneficiary of Stars & Strikes Fundraiser
Cadence Design Systems, Inc. and the Department of Veterans Affairs Hospital in nearby Palo Alto announced that the Fisher House project at the VA Hospital has been selected as the 2005 recipient of the Cadence® Stars and Strikes® fundraiser.
The Fisher House is the initiative of the Fisher Foundation, which helps build housing where families of veterans and active duty soldiers can stay, while servicemen and women receive treatment at a United States Veterans Hospital. Although there are numerous Fisher Houses around the United States, none exists at the VA facility in Palo Alto. The Palo Alto facility is an award-winning hospital that in addition to regular patient care has specialized units dedicated to brain and spinal injuries, rehabilitation for the blind, and a large hospice program.
"Palo Alto is a very expensive place to stay for the families of our servicemen and women, especially if their loved one is recovering from a catastrophic injury requiring several months of rehabilitation," said Elizabeth Freeman, director of the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. "I know that our nurses have struggled to help these families with accommodations and other needs during their stay here. With this commitment from Cadence, we can break ground this spring and we expect there will be a Fisher House on the VA grounds within a year."
Headquartered in San Jose, Cadence, the world's largest electronic design software provider, has been raising money to meet community needs since 1990 through its annual Stars & Strikes fundraiser and bowling tournament. With the fundraising expenses underwritten by Cadence, Stars & Strikes is one of the largest community events of its kind in Silicon Valley. During this event, Cadence's partners in business come together as partners in the community and every dollar raised together then goes directly to the beneficiary. To date, more than $5.8 million has been raised through this program, most of which has been used to fund major programs and projects that provide significant benefits to local non-profit organizations and charities. The San Francisco 49ers Foundation, which teamed with Cadence to provide the star power last year, will once again bring out players and coaches for the big event in 2005.
"Making the Fisher House in Palo Alto a reality is a wonderful example of what the corporate community can do when we work together," said Ray Bingham, executive chairman of Cadence. "This project will benefit many families of our servicemen and women for years to come."
The 2005 Stars and Strikes Tournament takes place on May 14 in San Jose. Companies interested in participating in the event may call Kathy Wheeler, Cadence manager of global community involvement, at (408) 428-5993 or email kwheeler@cadence.com.
About Department of Veterans Affairs Hospital in Palo Alto, CA
The VA Palo Alto Health Care System is a major primary, secondary, and tertiary care center with one of the VA's four traumatic brain injury units in the U.S., receiving referrals from the entire West Coast and as far away as Texas.
About Fisher House
Fisher House Foundation is best known for the network of 32 comfort homes on the grounds of military and VA major medical centers. The houses are typically 5,000 to 8,000 square foot homes, with up to 11 suites, donated to the military and VA by the Fisher family of New York through Fisher House Foundation. The Foundation provides support to families of patients receiving care at a nearby medical center. For more information on the work of Fisher House Foundation, go to http://www.fisherhouse.org or call toll-free (888) 294-8560.
About Cadence
Cadence is the world's largest supplier of electronic design technologies and engineering services. Cadence products and services are used to accelerate and manage the design of semiconductors, computer systems, networking equipment, telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics, and other electronics based products. With approximately 4,900 employees and 2004 revenues of approximately $1.2 billion, Cadence has sales offices, design centers, and research facilities around the world. The company is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., and trades on both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq under the symbol CDN. More information is available at www.cadence.com.
For more information, please contact:
Nancy Szymanski
Corporate Public Relations
Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
direct: 408.473.8382
nancy@cadence.com