The White Aisle Foundation was established to honor the life of Rebecca Garrison-Sokoloff, founder and owner of The White Aisle wedding stationary company, who died of melanoma on November 13, 2011 at the age of 34. The foundation raises funds for melanoma research, educates about melanoma and its prevention, and advocates for public policies that help prevent skin cancer. 


Learning and Sharing at the MRA Patient Forum and Scientific Retreat

We were pleased last March to attend the Melanoma Research Alliance’s annual Patient and Advocate Forum and its Scientific Retreat. We especially enjoyed the opportunity to meet and talk with old friends and colleagues face to face for the first time since the COVID epidemic began. We were also honored to participate in a panel at the Patient and Advocate Forum discussing the melanoma journey from a patient/caregiver perspective. Having the opportunity to tell Rebecca’s story and some of the lessons it taught us was deeply meaningful. We never tire of remembering and honoring Rebecca by sharing her story and doing good in her name. 

PREVENTION

Shade Shelters for Kids... 

Just one blistering sunburn in childhood or adolescence more than doubles a person's chances of developing melanoma later in life. School playgrounds and playing fields often provide little or no shade for kids when they are enjoying outdoor activities. We are partnering with the Peggy Spiegler Melanoma Research Foundation in Cherry Hill, New Jersey to help build sun shades for parks and playing fields in central New Jersey.

​Our most recent shelters are at the new dog park at Croft Farm in Cherry Hill and dugout covers for the Lower Merion Little League at the Friends Central Lower Field and  South Ardmore Park. In recent years,  we also completed dugout covers for a playing field for underserved kids being built by the Philadelphia Phillies at FDR Park in Philadelphia, and a cover at the DeCou Sports Complex in Cherry Hill.

AWARENESS

While our in-person awareness events have been on hold these past months due to COVID, we are now pleased to be out spreading the word about sun safety once again.
Keeping swimmers safe as they raise funds for cancer research
 We were thrilled to provide sunscreen and sun safety information to swimmers participating in this year’s Swim Across America swim at Meadowbrook Pool in Baltimore. Swimmers raised $375,000 for immunotherapy research at the Johns Hopkins Stanley Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. Thanks to Love Sun Body for supplying the sunscreen!
Pre-COVID events:

​Keeping kids sun-safe as they head back to school
We were honored to support the University Heights Giving Tree in Mercerville, NJ this year by supplying sun safety packets for its annual backpack drive. The backpacks are distributed to underserved children in the Trenton area by the Children's Home Society of New Jersey . Thanks to Supergoop for supplying the sunscreen!
Mt. Washington Community Fourth of July Celebration, Baltimore...
Princeton University...

The Maryland Pro Bono Resource Center's Fifth Annual Run for Justice...

Rebecca continues to promote awareness and research...

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Thanks to the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network-Maryland for honoring Rebecca during Melanoma Awareness Month and using her story to spread awareness about the dangers of tanning via social media. Rebecca did not use tanning beds, but she did visit the beach a few times without adequate protection from the sun. Tanning of any kind damages your skin and makes it more vulnerable skin cancer, including melanoma. 
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​Rebecca continues to raise awareness about the importance of clinical trials. Her photo and a quote about her feelings toward participating in trials is featured in the Melanoma Research Alliance's Fight Back Give Back social media campaign. Rebecca's story was also featured in a recent issue of MRA's newsletter. We are honored to be able to help MRA spread the word about the critical need for clinical trial participants.

Advocating for sun safe public policy

We did it, Maryland! No teen tanning in Maryland!
We shared Rebecca's story with the Maryland State Senate Finance Committee on February 28, in support of SB 299 and its companion bill in the House. The bill successfully passed the General Assembly, and was signed into law on May 13. New regulations will go into effect on October 1. Thanks to all of you who leant your support!

Sunscreen in schools:
Great news for Maryland! We now have signed legislation that allows students to carry and use sunscreen in their schools and summer camps. As part of the Melanoma Action Coalition, we have endorsed this legislation in Maryland as well as in other states. The SUNucate model legislation, spearheaded by the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery Association, has already been passed by a number of states and is making its way through others. It eliminates previous regulations that required children to have a doctor's note or prescription in order to carry and apply sunscreen at school or camp.

H.R. 282:
We have also joined melanoma organizations throughout the country in supporting H.R. 282, which was crafted in support of our state-based efforts to increase sunscreen access in schools as well as encourage sun-safe behavior in general. We, along with 26 others, signed on to letters drafted by the The American Academy of Dermatology Association asking Congressional representatives to support passage of this resolution.

COLLABORATION

The White Aisle Foundation is represented on the Executive Board of the Melanoma Action Coalition, a nationwide organization of more than 40 community-based melanoma foundations and advocates. We help organize MAC’s annual Fall Conference, an opportunity for our members and others in the melanoma community to hear from experts about melanoma diagnosis, treatment, and prevention, as well as to network and share. 

Our donations at work

The White Aisle Foundation is mentioned prominently in an issue of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center publication Giving Matters. An interview with Dr. David McDermott, whose work we support, quotes him as saying:

The White Aisle Foundation was created by the family of a young woman who was treated for metastatic melanoma with a drug that resulted in a dramatic, but unfortunately short-lived response. When this drug failed, she was too sick to receive the newer forms of immune therapy. The grant given in her memory was enough to collect and publish data and develop a clinical trial to compare her treatment with immune therapy. The research that was spurred by her unfortunate outcome and supported by her family and friends will help change the treatment for patients like her around the world. 

We have contributed more than $110,000 thus far to Dr. McDermott's work, and continue our support through the Rebecca Garrison-Sokoloff Melanoma Research Endowment. Thank you for helping us make that happen.

The Rebecca Garrison Sokoloff Melanoma Research Endowment 

In 2017, the foundation completed a five-year campaign to raise $100,000 for the Rebecca Garrison Sokoloff Melanoma Research Endowment at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The endowment advances melanoma research and training by directly funding young researchers. It:

  • allows young investigators who are doing leading edge clinical research to travel to scientific meetings
  • enables them to publish their findings from clinical trials in real time
  • helps others learn from their clinical research data
  • focuses their efforts on improving the outcomes of melanoma patients

We continue to support the endowment so that it thrives and supports increasing numbers of young researchers. 

Support the endowment!!

Support us by...


  • Attending, organizing or sponsoring a fundraiser
  • Making a tax deductible contribution: