One thing that has consistently impressed me in the post-cancer era: The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. While the Breast Cancer Mafia resorts to figuratively pistol-whipping you to get you to donate every time you watch an NFL game or go to the grocery store or just BOOBS!!!!, LLS has some ingenious methods to get people to support cancer research. Cases in point: Team in Training and the Light the Night walk. Team in Training allows participants to train for some sort of insane thing that I will never do but that I respect others for doing – marathons, triathlon, hike up Everest, who knows, while the Light the Night walk provides an option for the less insane, but still allows participants to raise awareness and money for a disease at a tasteful, coordinated event without completely ruining an entire color for everybody else.
Several of my friends are either walking or running very long distances to help raise money for Lymphoma research. Personal policy is not to ask others to donate to causes, but I at least want to recognize some people who are doing some pretty outstanding things and raising money for, as you know, a very worthy cause. If you choose to throw a couple dollas their way, I’m sure they would appreciate it. You may donate in any way you choose – strenuousness of event, height, physical attractiveness, hair color, you name it.
Click on the names if you wish to donate. The folks:
David Riddle
Light the Night Walk, Woodland Hills, CA
Dave and I e-met (sounds creepier than it is) through a mutual friend in the most unfortunate of circumstances: we were both diagnosed with lymphoma (his of the Hodgkin’s variety) in the summer of 2010 and underwent treatment at about the same time. Certainly not ideal to know that somebody else you know is going through something horrible, but also moderately reassuring to know that no, you aren’t the only one, even though it feels that way.
Dave will be walking in the Light the Night walk out in Cali (you try training for a marathon post-chemo) this Saturday. Ship a little chedda his way.
Brief background on Dave's story is here. Journal is here. Fortunately, Dave is currently in remission, and, like me, planning to stay there.
Dan McGraw
Marine Corps Marathon, Washington, DC
Yes, that’s blood.
Dan and I have known each other since roughly the third grade. We were also freshman year roommates at beautiful Mary Markley Hall in Ann Arbor, and senior year roommates at 436 S. Division. Living in those two structures, it was pretty much inevitable that one of us would come down with some sort of malignancy. Guess I chose the more asbestos-y side of the dorm room. Rats.
Anyway, Dan is participating in the Marine Corps Marathon here in DC on October 30. He destroyed his original fundraising goal, so he set a new, higher goal (he did have an internship at the Treasury once, so this makes perfect sense). Help him reach that one too.
Kathy/Katie/Kate/Kathryn Novaria
Marine Corps Marathon, Washington, DC
Do you have any idea how hard it is to run 26.32 miles in a catsuit?
Katie and I have known each other since senior year spring break on a Carnival cruise ship (also sounds creepier than it is). Actually, we met well before that, but I couldn’t tell her apart from a couple of her roommates for roughly six months, so I just tired to avoid addressing them by name. True story.
Also true story: Her real name is Katie (I think). We started calling her Kathy on that Carnival cruise ship for reasons I forget, but that name stuck. She sometimes refers to herself as Kate. And professionally, she is Kathryn (not that type of professional – she works on the Hill. I know – same difference). But since several of us use those names interchangeably here in DC, people who meet Kate have no idea what to call her. Fun times.
Third true story: She is nuts, having already competed in the Walt Disney World Half Marathon last year, she is attempting to finish both the Marine Corps and Disney Marathons this year. Because of this, she’s closing in on $5,000 total raised for LLS. That’s big money. If she hits 5 G’s, we’ll promise to address Katie by a name of her choosing.
Rachel Lombardi
New York City Marathon
Rachel and my sister with an Armenian giraffe who I hear likes to show up at high school birthday parties with hard liquor in brown paper bags.
Rachel is my longtime friend and my sister’s former roommate/co-worker. She’s also roughly 4’ 10” (see above), which means that over the course of a marathon, she will have to run 12,486 more steps than the average Kenyan. That is a completely made up number, but I bet it’s close. Rachel and I have known each other since early high school. In fact, they once let us take care of very young children together back when we worked at a daycamp. That’s right: They let me take care of young kids. Comforting, isn’t it.
Rachel is housing fools on the fundraising trail, pulling in over $4,000 in about five months of training, and sporting donations from individuals of great notoriety, such as Antoine Dodson and Miss Cleo (no joke – look at the donation list).
Steve Schrage
Light the Night, New York City
Fun fact: Steve is the one who took the photo that adorns the upper-right corner of this page in the “About Me” section. I probably wasn’t happy with the photo at the time, but I certainly am now. Or else what would I have put up on my cancer blog, you know?
Fresh off a stint in Canada as Matt Foley, motivational speaker, Steve is now living in New York. He watched game 2 of the Tigers-Yankees series alone…in the center field bleachers of Yankee Stadium. He then made it down to DC for game 5 where I met up with him, for the first time in well over a year, to watch the Tigs take down the Yanks in the deciding game. That’s bang for your buck.
Unfortunate news for Steve: he was also a resident of that fateful 1st floor Reeves hallway in Markley (the year after me) and a frequent visitor at 436 S. Division. It’s like we’re some creepy government test case. I’d like to poll the other residents of that carcinogenic hellhole and see how many have odd things growing in odd places.
