My own involvement with ALSF comes by way of another determined young girl named Ishani that I met through a friend. Ishani is 7 years old and has already had to battle cancer twice in her young life, yet still maintains an amazingly positive attitude.It's hard to get to know somebody like that and not be inspired to do something to help.
So... I'll be running in the 3M Half Marathon on January 30th, and in order to help promote the ASLF cause, I'll be wearing my "Team Lemon" ALSF yellow shirt/hat (see pic below). Besides raising awareness, I'm also hoping to raise a few dollars (every little bit helps!!!), and I have a plea for you and a challenge that goes along with it...
The plea is to make a donation of any size, which you can do through this page. For Ishani and the other kids, it really does means a lot when they see people making donations, whether it is $5 or $50... it just lets them know that somebody out there cares about them and what they're going through.
The challenge that I have is tied to the plea, and is in regards to my expected pace/time. A fast and quite difficult pace for me would be to average 7:20/mile; which translates to completing the half marathon in about 1:36. I'd love to be able to get my time down to 1:30; but that would require a 6:52 pace; which just isn't going to happen : ) To make me work at it, though, maybe you can pledge a donation tied to my pace... For example: $5 if I break 1:40, and then an additional $1 for every minute I get underneath that. That will provide some extra motivation for those last few miles when the mind keeps telling the body to slow down!
Regardless of whether or not you make a donation, I'd love to have you leave a comment with a note of encouragement for Ishani and the other kids, and maybe say a little prayer when you think of them.
Finally, if you want to see more information about ALSF, Alex, Ishani, and pediatric cancer in general - click HERE.
Thank you for your support!
JD
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Help the kids!
Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation: to find a cure for childhood cancer for kids like Ishani ... Please help them by donating HERE
Hope For Kidz: program to help educate children in Haiti
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Thank you JD for doing this in honor of Ishani and all kids fighting cancer. Thank you for raising awareness of childhood cancer. Childhood Cancer is the #1 killer disease of our children. Due to this fact everyone thinks that a lot is being done to find a Cure. WE ARE SO WRONG. Childhood Cancer is underfunded and only one new pediatric specific cancer drug has been developed in the last 25 years. I was unaware of this until I heard the words "your child has cancer".The National Cancer Institute gives just 3.5% of the federal budget to ALL childhood cancers. So it is up to us (all of us) to fight for our kids not just in honor or memory of them, but in defense of those yet to be diagnosed, so that someday when a parent hears the words "your child has cancer", they will be given the hope (and possible guarantee) of a CURE.
ReplyDeleteThank you JD so very much.
Dash (Ishani's mom)