Marathons look easy to these folks.
If you have run or walked a marathon, are preparing for one, or have ever thought about completing one, then I want to introduce you to some folks to whom marathons look easy.
Let me tell you a little more about them.
- Their preparation is intense.
- Their whole family usually gets involved.
- They often spend a lot of money to get better.
- Every one of them is determined to win.
- Losses are very personal.
Now let me tell you something about an organization in Houston, Texas, that supports these folks at no charge to them.
- It has trained a record 113 volunteers this year — more than any other year in the organization’s history.
- The number of folks whom this organization has matched to its volunteers for one-on-one support has increased 38% since last year (2008) and 77% since 2007.
- This organization is on track to meet this year’s goal of making 9,000 one-on-one contacts with these folks, a 41% increase over two years.
- This organization has made a profound difference for thousands.
- In spite of the financial necessity to decrease its staff by three positions in 2009, this organization’s support of these folks continued to grow.
It sounds like a great organization, right? It is.
And it sounds like a determined group of folks, right? They are.
But, no matter how tough you think you are, you would not want to be one of them.
And, no matter how strong this organization seems now, it needs your support.
You see, the folks about whom I am writing are cancer patients, and the organization is CanCare.
I am completing the 2010 Houston Marathon to raise money for CanCare, just as I did for the 2009 Houston Marathon and back in 2003.
In other words, CanCare is my “Run for a Reason” organization again.
If you are participating in the 2010 Houston Marathon and are running for a reason, then thank you. There are many worthy “Run for a Reason” organizations.
If you are participating but are not running for a reason, then please consider running for CanCare.
Finally, if you are not participating in the 2010 Houston Marathon but want to support CanCare, then I invite you to do the following:
- Learn more about CanCare at www.cancare.org.
- Make a tax-deductible contribution at my donations page, if it makes sense to you.
Supporting CanCare makes a lot of sense to me, so I encourage and welcome your support. My goal is to raise $524 — the equivalent of the some 26.2 miles in a marathon times $20 per mile. If I get 200 people to each donate $2.62 — a penny for every tenth of a mile that I complete — then that will mean as much to me as getting twenty people to each donate $26.20 — a dollar for every mile that I complete.
The combination of contributions and the size of any individual contribution does not matter to me.
What will matter when I am out there on that 2010 Houston Marathon course is knowing that you are behind me with your support of CanCare.
By the way: If you go to my donations page and see that the $524 goal has already been reached, then please still consider contributing. Your help in surpassing that goal would mean a lot.
On behalf of all the patients and families served by CanCare, thanks in advance for your support.
