Thank you to everyone who entered my raffle for two tickets to the Dec. 13 Patriots game. I thought it was fitting that Katie Teele, a friend I met through Team In Training, won the tickets. With your help I was able to raise more than $2,300 and get my fund raising off to a fantastic start.

But there's still more work to be done, so I'm hoping you'll consider making another donation, or an initial donation if you didn't have a chance to enter the raffle. I know this is a tough time to be asking people for money, but it's times like these that nonprofits like Leukemia-Lymphoma Society need our help the most, which is why I decided to run my second Boston (and third) marathon with Team In Training. Most of you know how important TNT became to me as I coped with the loss of my father to a blood cancer and my goal remains to make whatever small difference I can in helping make sure other families won't have to go through what my family did in 2004.

If everyone who got my initial email donates $10, I'll exceed my fund raising goal of $3,250. If everyone donates $25, I'll more than double that goal. No donation is too small or too big, and I appreciate whatever help you can offer. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I am completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission. If online donations aren't your thing, you can mail a check payable to the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society to Dave Copeland, 52 Orchard Street, Medford, MA 02155.

I hope you will visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thanks for your support and look for me somewhere between Hopkinton and Boston on April 19!

- Dave