David Plotkin

David Plotkin discovered his life’s purpose on May 2, 2007, the day his son Max was diagnosed with cancer. Just one day before Max’s fourth birthday, David learned his son had an extremely rare form of B-Cell Lymphoma, one that even experts at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City had never seen before. After learning that pediatric cancer research is extremely underfunded, David decided to take action. He walked away from a career as a hedge fund trader realizing that life is bigger than any stock trade. David created The Max Cure Foundation for pediatric cancer causes to help fund the development of less toxic treatments for children and to find cures for children and young adult cancers. After two years of building the foundation, David has re-entered the finance world, working as a consultant on various projects, and maintaining his relationships that took years to cultivate, while still working full time for The Max Cure Foundation. In less than 4 years, his fundraising efforts have raised more than $1.6 million dollars. David participated in the First Congressional Childhood Cancer Summit in Washington, D.C. last year with some of the world’s leading experts to discuss research, treatments, and the impact of childhood cancer on families and current funding legislation. David and Max have recently returned from the Second Pediatric Cancer Caucus in DC and are working closely with United States Congressman, Michael McCaul (R-TX), to build awareness.

While spending time with Max in the hospital, David began to envision projects that would benefit the foundation. Max held onto his stuffed lion, which gave him courage during difficult times so David hired the illustrator of Kellogg's characters to make him an illustration of a lion that resembled his son Max. Lion Max has since become the face of the foundation. David is telling the story of his son Max through the life of Lion Max who lives in the jungle and faces his own fears and adversity. David also released his first album, The Journey, (on iTunes) which features 17 songs he wrote to inspire Max and keep him brave during his treatments. The album was produced in Nashville by award winning producer Ian Eskelin and the album will be the basis for a 3-D animated film, which is currently in the preliminary stages of development. David is building “Be Brave,” the very words he spoke to his son everyday as he went through treatment, into a global brand to help fund pediatric cancer research. David has been working very closely with former Chairman of The Health and Fitness Board for the White House, Paul Carrozza, and together they are launching “Be Brave” athletic programs to get children moving while teaching them to face obstacles and do their best to overcome them through sports, music and play.

Max is thankfully in remission today and The Max Cure Foundation is going strong. In addition, David occasionally speaks at high schools, local temples and churches hoping to inspire people and educate them on pediatric cancer. David will speak at the University of Texas this coming year.

David was recently interviewed by Rosanna Scotto and Greg Kelly on Fox 5 Good Day New York, as well as by Dana Tyler on the CBS Early Show, talking about the mission of The Max Cure Foundation. He was quoted in The Wall Street Journal in an article that appeared following the Third Annual Roar for a Cure Carnival in East Hampton. New York Family included David on their Top 10 Fathers in NYC list. David was interviewed on NBC during his 2008 Marathon Run after raising over $250,000 for Max Cure prior to the run. Big City Moms in NYC voted Super Parents of the week David and his wife Annemarie and articles have been written about David and Max in Tonic.com, The Houston Chronicle and The Hill's Congress Blog in DC. East Hampton and Eastern Long Island publications such as East Hampton Press, The Independent, Sag Harbor Express, The Star and Dan’s Papers have been following Max Cure since its inception, building the support from the east end market place. Hamptons Magazine, a partner of The Max Cure Foundation, honored Max Cure with a Sweet Charity article in the summers of 2010 and 2011. Advertising Age also did an article on Max Cure and their efforts. The Max Cure Foundation has been honored at Madison Square Garden with Max appearing on ice and by Memorial Sloan-Kettering in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Aside from the endless effort raising funds and awareness for pediatric cancer, David is on a committee formed by The Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation to consider potential collaborations with foundations and trusts in the area of cancer research and sits on the Advisory Board of Everloop, a safe haven social networking site for tweens.