This year's effort is for Rose, a very special young lady who I'm with in my profile picture, who drives me to do whatever I can to raise money to help kids like her! She is a FIGHTER! It's hard to imagine what it feels like to hear the words from a doctor: "your child has cancer," or worse yet "there's nothing more we can do." I have witnessed miracles occur because of new treatments, because of this money we raise! Can you imagine being a parent being told, "We are going to cure this cancer, because we just discovered a groundbreaking treatment for your child." This is why we do this.
Should I shave my head again? Although I realize it may take extraordinary measures and may not be possible during a pandemic, if I exceed the amount I raised last time I shaved my head in 2019, $6,578, by 3/10/22, I will go completely bald once again! If I don't raise that amount, I'll do some sort of shave to the back of my head at some point in the future.
Raising money for pediatric cancer, or any cancer for that matter, has been near and dear to my heart since the year 2000, when my TJU friend's brother, Emmaus High School student Andrew Butler, passed away from Neuroblastoma. It became my mission to fight against this awful disease head on, becoming Race Director for the Race for Andrew 5k to raise money. With the support of his family and our team from the TJU Physical Therapy Class of 2001, together we raised $32,000 towards neuroblastoma research donated to CHOP in his name. In the past 21 years, I have been blessed to work with children with many kinds of pediatric cancer in my job as a Physical Therapist and be part of fundraising activities. I am going to open this opportunity up to our Emmaus High School Cross Country and Track & Field Team, in hopes our large team can make a large impact in this year's fundraising efforts! I am thankful for this opportunity and if you would be willing to support the cause and these amazing kids, I will be forever grateful. Please consider donating, if you are able.