Dodge Carter
Treasure Street, Executive Committee and Founding Member
Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children
2222 Welborn Street
Dallas, Texas  75219–3993

A unique fund-raiser benefits victims of tuberous sclerosis.

Six years ago, I had never heard of a disease called tuberous sclerosis (TS). Today, TS is something my wife, Dee, and I think about and live with on a daily basis. When our daughter, Nicole, was diagnosed with TS, our first reaction was "How do we fix it?" Needless to say, we quickly realized it is impossible to "fix" TS and equally as difficult to manage the disease.

Ours is really a fairly traditional story of two parents who were besieged by grief but who immediately tried to turn the grief into energy to change things. We went through the typical period of denial, but we quickly got over it and decided we needed to do something proactive. I became involved with the National Tuberous Sclerosis Association (NTSA), and Nicole became a patient in the TS program at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children (TSRHC) in Dallas. We immersed ourselves in an immediate education not only about the disease, but about what was being done to better understand and fight it. After investigating what was going on nationally, we looked into what was happening locally and decided that we had to get the word out about TS in our own community. As a Dallas native, I knew that this city generously supports local causes and that once people feel a connection to a cause, there is no limit to what they will do to help. After deciding that a fund-raiser was needed, my wife and I enlisted the help of our parents.

We knew we wanted to create an event that was simple, a little bit different, and that people would enjoy attending. The answer was an annual silent and live auction held in the atrium of TSRHC. For $25 a ticket, attendees enjoy food, drink, live entertainment, and a chance to bid on an exciting array of donated auction items from a dream vacation to sports memorabilia.
Working with a great core group of longtime friends, Treasure Street was founded as a way to raise money from individual and corporate donors in support of research efforts at TSRHC. Specifically, income from Treasure Street events enabled the hospital's TS clinic to hire a research assistant to manage the tremendous amount of data available on the clinic's patient population.

The response we've had has been overwhelming. In just two years, we're raised almost $393,000. It's been amazing. Our goal is to raise a $1 million endowment to continue research efforts in the TS clinic at Texas Scottish Rite. I am confident Treasure Street can really impact the big picture. Everything we do is geared towards the future, for that's when TS will be defeated. It's a win-win situation. Local dollars will enable this premier children's hospital to help all those affected by TS worldwide. And we're committed to taking it to the next level.

On a personal note, Nicole is an absolute joy. She's doing extremely well considering her challenges. Best of all, she's a happy little girl. Of course, if we had one wish, it would be for Nicole to be healthy. But I speak for my whole family when I say that having her in our lives has made us all better people.