On the same day that Guru of Gang Starr succumbed to cancer at age 43, Adam Yauch of Beastie Boys sent out a letter asking for help in his fight. The letter states that Yauch and a few friends hold twice-daily mediation sessions, “for about an hour and half.

“We are picturing smashing apart all of the cancer cells in the world,” the letter continues. “We are visualizing taking the energy away from the cancer, and then sending it back at the cancer as lightening (sic) bolts that will break apart the DNA and RNA of the cells. If you have the time, please join us in whipping up this lightening storm.”

Since cancer kills 1.5 million people every year in North America alone and prayer has failed to cure any illness since the time man learned to rub two sticks together to make fire, a more proactive step in helping Adam — and all cancer victims — might be to make a generous donation to any of these reputable charities:

American Cancer Society
Breast Cancer Fund
Cancer Care
Cancer Research Institute
CureSearch/National Childhood Cancer Foundation
The Jimmy Fund
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation
National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund
Prevent Cancer Foundation
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Susan G. Komen for the Cure