b'www.east.org 7Development FundDear Colleagues,In thinking about it, we all can agree the past year has been challenging on many fronts. Not only has there been an increased demand on our professional and personal lives due to the ongoing pandemic, but also many of our members have faced increased penetrating trauma volume and/or additional responsibilities in the care of COVID patients. During this difficult time, many of us have had to put aside personal and professional endeavors that are a normal part of our well-being. When we reflect on this, we feel especially concerned for young surgeons who are just starting their careers amidst this time of turmoil.It is at this time that these young surgeons, and really all of us, need EAST more than ever. This is an organization whose very mission is to provide leadership and development for young surgeons active in the care of the injured patient. Despite the immense difficulties of this past year, we as a membership have helped raise more than $124,000 in 2020 to ensure we can continue to support the numerous educational and leadership opportunities provided by EAST for the future leaders of our profession. These include awards such as the Trauma Research Scholarship and the Multicenter Trials Junior Investigator Award. Also, outside of the ability to donate to these funds, many of our members have volunteered time in the form of mentorship, development of practice management guidelines and other efforts sponsored by EAST. We, as an organization, should be proud of what we have accomplished, and we owe that to our dedicated and generous membership. For those that are able to continue to donate, we thank you sincerely; however, those that are unable to donate can still find other ways to impact change toward our charter purpose of fostering advances in the surgery of trauma and providing an exchange of knowledge amongst members and other providers for our acutely ill or injured patients.With sincere gratitude,Jeffry Nahmias, MD, MHPE, FACSThomas K. Duncan, DO, FACS Development Committee Chair Senior Director-at-Large'