Fight Aging!

A letter from Dave Gobel, founder of the Methuselah Foundation:

For the price of a cup of coffee per day, would you like to join a select group of humanitarians who will be remembered for their vision and saving millions of lives?

Modern medical science continues to show us that the aging process may no longer be the intractable problem it has been perceived to be for every generation preceding ours. There is a present need to move faster towards a previously unattainable goal: the control of aging. This need for more rapid medical progess is only magnified by the current profound lack of funding for aging research. Funding springs, at root, from widespread public awareness of advances and possibilities in aging research. Educating the public is an essential step in moving philanthropists and governments to allocate more resources to the study of aging. The problems caused by aging leave us poor in body, spirit, and finances. We must step forward to tackle them!

The Mprize for longevity research is working hard to build public interest and has had some considerable success, raising more than $4 million in total pledges since its launch in 2003. Encouraged by these results and knowing that the size of the fund is directly related to its effectiveness as a publicity tool, we continue to push forward with a fundraising project that we feel will fit the circumstance. You might be interested in this initiative.

We call it "The Three Hundred" ... themed from history and limited to that number of participants. These individuals (or organizations) see the potential of the Mprize and believe that aging can be defeated. Members of The Three Hundred have made a commitment to creating a better future, one in which the suffering caused by aging is greatly diminished or banished entirely. The unique foresight shared by The Three Hundred at this early stage in aging research will be remembered - they grasped the ring, heard the call and took action when the opportunity first presented itself. The efforts of the Three Hundred will be remembered, like those of their historical counterparts, far into the future.

The existence of The Three Hundred resonates with those who feel the injustice of the aging process, people who welcome the first serious attempts in human history to fight aging and win. Nine enthusiastic individuals signed up before we could even make the announcement public, and more than a hundred have stepped forward to join as of the first day of 2007. Please visit our website and read about The Three Hundred:

http://www.mfoundation.org/?pn=mj_donations_the300

The control of aging is forseeable. Science provides the tools, researchers provide the labor, the Mprize will provide the funding. Please consider joining our effort to create a better, longer, healthier future.

What's it worth to you to live 150 healthy years? What's it worth to you to raise the average human lifespan to 150 years, just as a start? These are not idle questions! Membership of The Three Hundred is a meaningful but affordable commitment: $1,000 a year, by the end of each year, for 25 years. This amounts to $85 a month or $2.75 a day, the equivalent of a visit to Starbucks.

The Three Hundred is a classical concept, based on a battle that saved the future of Western Civilization: Thermopylae. In 480 B.C., 300 Spartan warriors fought against incredible odds to gain time for the rest of Greece to mobilize against the Persian hordes. Without the delaying action fought at the narrow pass of Thermopylae, the achievements of Greece and our culture as we know it would have been swept away.

The Methuselah Foundation is asking you to follow in the footsteps of this noble Three Hundred, not to risk your lives, but to provide some of your treasure so that we can all live ... and live ... and live. You will help to win time for the human species to beat back an enemy far more dangerous than the ancient Persians: the Grim Reaper himself.

The Three Hundred - a group strictly limited to 300 members - will live on in history, as the Three Hundred of Thermopylae are remembered even to this day. You can be one of them. The names of the 300 Spartans who fought at Thermopylae were engraved on a stone tablet in Sparta that was still legible seven centuries later. A momument stands to this day to pay homage to their sacrifice. In lending your name to this enterprise, you will be remembered for as long as the human race survives.

We have reached a potential tipping point in human history: a time in which the quest to extend the healthy human life span can be taken seriously and extensive resources devoted to understand and defeat the aging process. The pledges of the Three Hundred will help further large sums to be raised for Foundation projects such as the Mprize for longevity research.

I am a member of the Three Hundred, and I have put my money where my mouth is. To become one of the Three Hundred is to take the initiative, to recognize that our contributions will make an ever-growing difference to the future of medical research, health and longevity. We are the rainmakers, the pebbles who trigger the avalanche, the first to heed the call. By our actions, we lead the way and will long be remembered for it.

Think deeply, follow my lead, and join the Three Hundred. Take part in the fight to cure aging!