My greatest inspiration just became a teenager, and I am raising money for St. Jude in her honor. My daughter Ellie is a childhood cancer survivor who recently celebrated 11 years cancer-free. I am training to run the upcoming Eau Claire Marathon, and I'm hoping to use this race to raise $2,620 for St. Jude, which equals $100/ mile I run, to celebrate this milestone in Ellie's life. Together we can help other childhood cancer patients celebrate more birthdays.
My inspiration:
Ellie is the most inspirational person I know. In addition to being a cancer survivor, she's also legally blind. She has never let either of these challenges define her or limit her in any way. She shows up every day with a positive attitude, words of encouragement for others, and a willingness to work hard at everything she does. During Ellie's 7th grade year she has participated in volleyball, dance, basketball, and she just began soccer at DeLong. While each of these activities poses challenges for her, she has never made excuses not to try. She is willing to put herself out there and give it her all at every practice and competition. Her coachability and work ethic are some of her most admirable traits. I am in constant awe of her. She makes me want to be a better person every day. I'm so thankful she's a survivor.
Whether it's $5 or $20, your show of support will also help propel me to the finish line. To date, the longest run I've completed is 18.2 miles, so this marathon is definitely going to stretch me as a runner. I'm slow, I have asthma (I HATED the mile run in middle school), and I have a chronic hip injury; however, Ellie has inspired me to push myself to show up, put in the work, and challenge myself.
How you can help:
- Thanks to donors like you, no family ever receives 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.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CONSIDERING.
