In 1999, RFW's founder, Anne Mann, joined by family and friends, launched an effort to raise funds for research into finding a cure for Waldenström's macroglubulinemia. More than $68,000 was raised that first year through a walk-a-thon headed by Anne, and a golf outing organized by the Mara family. The first research project, utilizing the single agent Rituxan, began in January 2000, under the direction of principal investigator Dr. Steven Treon of Dana Farber Cancer Institute who called it "the first multi-institutional, multi-national clinical trial ever undertaken exclusively for Waldenström's patients."

The walk-a-thon and golf outing were repeated in 2000 and were joined by Bob Lynch's row-a-thon. These efforts, coupled with numerous individual contributions, raised more than $287,000 in less than two years. Ongoing fund raising efforts are bolstered by a very generous 5-year grant of over $150,000 from the Bailey family.

A further research trial was authorized to start in 2001, and plans were made by RFW to sponsor the first international scientific symposium dedicated exclusively to WM, as well as a "WM summit conference" for patients—both conceived to raise public awareness and to stimulate further research.

RFW is a volunteer organization whose exclusive purpose is to find a cure for Waldenström's macroglobulinemia.

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