IBC Bank raises over $4 million for MD Anderson

HOUSTON ― The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has received $4 million in donations through efforts by the International Bank of Commerce (IBC Bank) to support cancer research at the James P. Allison Institute and the Institute for Cell Therapy Discovery & Innovation.

Throughout 2024, IBC Bank’s employees and customers from more than 160 branches across Texas and Oklahoma raised over $1 million through this year's “Give Cancer the Boot” campaign, which IBC Foundation matched, bringing the total raised to over $2 million. Additionally, an anonymous donor family provided a $2 million matching gift, further advancing MD Anderson's mission to end cancer.

“Thanks to support from IBC Bank and its generous community of employees and customers, MD Anderson is able to work toward improving care and outcomes for all cancer patients,” said Giulio Draetta, M.D., Ph.D., chief scientific officer at MD Anderson. “Through the efforts of the Allison Institute and the Institute for Cell Therapy Discovery & Innovation, we are fueling transformational advances in cancer care and research in ways that are only possible here.”

This is the fourth time IBC Bank's “Give Cancer the Boot” campaign has supported MD Anderson. Since the first campaign in 2016, IBC Bank has raised more than $11 million for the institution, with previous campaigns supporting MD Anderson's Moon Shots Program^® and establishing the IBC Foundation for Investigational Cancer Therapeutics (ICT) Endowed Fellowship led by Sarina Piha-Paul, M.D., associate professor, ICT.

“The generosity of our IBC Bank partners and their customers across these communities has a significant impact on our mission to end cancer,” said Peter WT Pisters, M.D., president of MD Anderson. “Every donation, small or large, brings us one step closer to our goal of Making Cancer History^® in Texas, across the nation and around the world.”

Throughout the campaign, IBC Bank engaged its network of employees and customers to host more than 15 fundraising, awareness and community events. These included galas, golf tournaments, 5K runs/walks, bowling nights and more, held in cities across Texas and Oklahoma including McAllen, Corpus Christi, Harlingen, San Antonio, Laredo, Brownsville, Mission, Zapata and Houston.

“It is phenomenal to see the continued support of our communities and customers in our shared mission to end cancer,” said Dennis Nixon, IBC Bank Chairman of the Board, IBC Foundation manager and a senior member of the MD Anderson Cancer Center Board of Visitors. “We have been a proud supporter of MD Anderson for many years. Together, we can make a significant impact in the lives of those affected by cancer.”