THE BEGINNING… In 2018 I discovered passions for running and fighting Childhood Cancer when my then-2-year-old son became a cancer survivor. The next year I joined the St. Jude Hero team and with them ran the Wine & Dine 2-Course Challenge at Walt Disney World. This is a 10k race followed by a half marathon the next day. It was a life-changing experience. I raised $2500 for St Jude thanks to the generosity of my friends and family and shared a “live photo report” from the races. This sparked my imagination for future fundraisers.
THE YEAR WAS 2020… I had signed up to do the next Wine & Dine with St Jude as well, but because of the COVID pandemic almost all racing events were sort of canceled – they became “virtual” events. I decided to postpone my fundraiser to 2021, but I still ran the “virtual” races for St. Jude locally. To make this more interesting, I filmed it and talked about childhood cancer and St .Jude to raise awareness in a unique way: Runcast for St. Jude, 23min. Little did I know that almost at that very moment in November 2020, Luke, a neighbor’s child, was being diagnosed with Leukemia and starting a year-long fight for his life.
LEGS FOR LUKE… A few months ago, Luke came home on hospice care when treatment was no longer recommended. The news hit me like a brick. I did what I always do when life seems out of balance – I went for a run. And my passion for running for St. Jude was renewed. I used to run for St. Jude because the research done there helped save my son’s life. Now I am doing it to honor those that are no longer here to run alongside us, like Luke.
JOIN THE RACE… This year I’m all in for St Jude and have decided to run the Dopey Challenge in addition to the Wine & Dine races. This is a four-day race series including a 5k, 10k, half, and full marathon for a total of 48.6 miles. To go along with this, I’m also raising the bar on my fundraiser to $10,000: 4x the miles, 4x the money, 4x the impact. As a St. Jude Hero, I carry a message of hope that tomorrow can be better than today. With your help, we can make that hope a reality. Join me in the race to end childhood cancer by donating to St. Jude right now.
WHY CHILDHOOD CANCER?
More than 10,000 children will be diagnosed with cancer this year (about 30 every day).
Cases vary significantly, but it is not uncommon for treatment to cost over $1,000,000.
Although today’s overall survival rate is more than 80%, more than 95% of survivors will have significant health issues later in life, usually as a result of treatment.
WHY ST. JUDE?
Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food - because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.
Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80% since it opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90%, and they won’t stop until no child dies from cancer.
St. Jude freely shares the discoveries it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children.
St Jude is a top-tier charity, receiving 4-out-of-4 stars by Charity Navigator and a Platinum rating for transparency by GuideStar, which gives you confidence that your donation is making the most impact it can.
