Giving Thanks To Those Who Give So Much

With the holiday season nearly upon us, I often find myself in conversation with my two small children (ages 5 and 3) about what it means to be "thankful." We discuss being thankful for our health and the health of our family members, how lucky we are to have warm clothes, warm food and a warm place to lay our heads. As parents, we try to help our children understand what it means to "give back" and to help those less fortunate; whether it be donating books, toys and clothes to Goodwill or canned foods to the local food bank, we want our children to be empathetic to the needs of others.

Why, you wonder, am I talking about my kids and the boxes of toys we donated to Goodwill last week? Well, it got me thinking about the clinical research industry and the countless number of people who do selfless things each and everyday to help others less fortunate (i.e. in poor health). The most important of this group are the clinical trial volunteers, the individuals who are literally giving their bodies to science. Let me say that again in order to be clear, clinical trial volunteers offer up their bodies for the sake of finding a cure for a particular disease or ailment. Many of these people are suffering from a disease or ailment themselves, so the opportunity to find some relief is often a factor, but more than that, they are putting forth the effort so that future generations may not have to suffer as they do. They are paying it forward, if you will.

As a company with 6 clinical research sites, we see the effort and dedication these volunteers put in on a daily basis and feel lucky to be a part of this amazing process. What is often a thankless job is, in fact, responsible for most of the modern marvels of medicine! We would like to thank each and every volunteer who has been a part of a trial with Benchmark Research, because without you we would be unable to do what we do!