2005 Health Care Leadership Award Honoree

Over the last six years, David and Dana Pump have brought some of the biggest names in sports to their annual golf tournaments through which they have raised over $1.2 million for cancer treatment at Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

Since early 2000, when their father died of cancer at the hospital, the two brothers and their mother Carole decided that they would do whatever they could to bring the best cancer treatment to other Northridge patients.

The foundation's annual golf tournament have become more successful every year. The honorees for last August's tournament were two of basketball's most recognizable names, legendary Duke University Coach Mike Krzyzewski and Rudy Tomjanovich, who won back to back NBA championships with the Houston Rockets and was the former coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.

From attendees, the foundation raised over $500,000 which it presented to the board of the Northridge Hospital earlier this month. In total, the foundation has raised over $1.2 million, a figure that increases every year.

The money the foundation has raised has had a drastic impact on cancer treatment in the Valley. The Leavey Cancer Center at Northridge Hospital has been able to purchase a high dose rate unit, mammogram unit and an ultrasound unit in the last three years. The foundation's assistance has also allowed the hospital to build the Carole Pump Women's Center.

"When my father was struggling with cancer the whole family was sitting with us and I remember feeling so helpless," said Dana Pump, who started the foundation with his brother David, his mother Carole and other siblings. "We started talking about starting a charity in order to raise money for cancer treatment."

The brothers used their business, Double Pump Inc., in order to bring some of the biggest names in sports, like Pete Rose and Marcus Allen and others, to headline their events. The company started as a small basketball day camp operation and grew into a company sponsoring several high profile West Coast basketball events for high school and junior college men.

The events attract some of the most talented young players in the nation as well as hundreds of college recruiters.

At the dinner accompanying the foundation's annual tournament there were 1,300 people in attendance, which leads Dana Pump to believe the foundation's contributions to the hospital will reach its contribution goals of $2.5 million in the next two years. Once it reaches that goal, the Pumps will decide among their family what to do next, although Dana Pump says it's hard to think of contributing to another organization because of the time his family spent with his father at Northridge.

Although it's a lofty goal Dana Pump says he never doubted his family's ability to reach it.

"We're crazy," Pump said. "When we take the time to tell people our story, we develop relationships that lead you to more people."