Families, friends gather at San Francisco Zoo to raise money for brain cancer research

Saturday morning, hundreds of families, friends, healthcare providers and survivors gathered at the San Francisco Zoo to raise awareness and funds for brain tumors and the Northern California Brain Tumor community. 

There was a long line to register before 9 a.m. 

"I mean, look at how many people are here. This is how many people that brain cancer affects," exclaimed Joe Quirarte, a brain tumor survivor. 

Many booths were set up, offering information to the crowd. 

"The diagnosis of brain tumors and all their iterations, hundreds of different types, are remarkably underfunded, and the prognosis is not very good upon getting that diagnosis of a brain tumor," explained Suzanne Isbell, who represents the National Brain Tumor Society.

Isbell said that the community at large needs to push for federal funding to fund research, advocacy, and patient programs to help improve the quality of life of the people diagnosed with a brain tumor. The goal: to cure them. 

Now, a bipartisan bill is making its way through the U.S. Congress. It's called the Bolstering Research and Innovation Now, or the BRAIN Act.

The goal of the bill, which has bipartisan support, is to increase research funding and foster collaboration in the quest to defeat brain tumors.

The group wants to raise at least $300,000. They are almost there. 

 "The brain tumor community is an amazing space to be within, and to see others who share the same goal, which is to find better, more effective ways to treat brain cancer, is an incredibly powerful thing to be part of," noted UCSF neuro-oncologist Dr. Thomas Nelson.

In the crowd, the young Kevin McGarry and his family. 

"I'm a survivor," said the young man. 

"He's 7 years clean, he's thriving in school, thriving in life, thriving in sport he's an amazing young man," remarked Kevin's dad.

Hoping for a future, a cure, and an end to brain cancer.