Andrew Myerson's Idea Made To Matter: Landing A Punch Against Cancer

Haymakers for Hope raises nearly $5 million for cancer charities When Andrew Myerson, MBA ’15, and his friend, Julie Anne Kelly, began preparing for the New York Golden Gloves amateur boxing competition in 2010, they realized it required just as much training and dedication as it did to run a marathon. As many marathon runners do, they decided to tie their efforts to fundraising for a cause they both cared about: finding a cure for cancer.After starting with a simple web page to raise money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the two went on to create Haymakers for Hope, a nonprofit that runs amateur boxing matches in Boston and New York. Anyone can train to participate in a fight, and all funds raised support cancer-related charities.

As word of mouth has driven the effort’s success, “the building of community andcamaraderie has been amazing,” Myerson says. “We vastly underestimated how much our friends wanted to see us get punched in the face.” With the charity fight nights regularly selling out, Haymakers for Hope is on pace to raise $5 million for charity by the end of this year.

What’s your Idea Made to Matter?