We did it! I hit my fundraising goal thanks to your help. The show at Fontana's went great and really helped to get us there. Also, thanks to my friends and family who also came through during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Your support means a lot not just to me, but to the patients and family members forced to deal with the very difficult diagnoses of Leukemia or Lymphoma related cancers. Hopefully research done in this area will trickle down to helping other cancers as well.

Now if only my training were going this well! It's been a flip from other years where the fundraising was the more difficult of the two. I'm coming off of an ankle injury and I've also been sick for the past week with a terrible cough/chest cold/flu type thing. I'm optimistic for the new year though, it's not over and I'll be back!!

Keith Bowles shares an office with my boss Kathleen. I visit them frequently to share weekly updates with Kathleen about how search marketing is going at Scholastic where we all work. I knew Keith was a father of 3 young boys but I didn't realize that one of them was diagnosed with Leukemia until I got an email last summer from Keith encouraging everyone to participate in the blood drive because it's so important for kids like Colin who "has already required more than five red blood cell transfusions and one platelets transfusion." He went on to write, "Over the course of treatment during the next one and a half years, he will likely need many more transfusions as the chemotherapy depletes his blood counts while wiping out the cancer cells. His thanks go out to donors like you for saving his life, and there are many more kids just like him who need your blood."

Colin Bowles - "His infectious smile gives us so much strength," says Keith

Colin (middle) with his brothers

Colin is only 5-years-old. He received this diagnosis when he was three and by the time his chemotherapy treatment is over he will have spent half of his life fighting this disease.

Monday December 5, 2011, The Lady Southpaw Band will be playing a benefit show for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor Colin and Bruce. A donation of $20 or more gets you in the door. The donation can be made in advance on this page or at the door.

Please join us - details and RSVP on the Facebook event page:

http://www.facebook.com/events/281558891883079/

Right now my friend Chris Baker is participating in his first Ironman Triathlon in Arizona. This wirey triathlete is a true competitor and a staple of the New York runnlng and racing scene, online he is a leader among the "runner army."

Chris writes about his running adventures on his blog "Beyond Defeat." The Ironman Triathlon is a true test of training, strength, endurance and will. Yet, for Chris this is nothing compared to what he had to endure earlier this year.

This Thursday will be Thanksgiving, the favorite holiday of Baker patriarch, Bruce Baker. He will be in everyone's thoughts this year as this is the first year they will have to spend without him. On May 21, 2011, Bruce lost his life to Lymphoma.

Please take a moment to read Chris' account of his father's final days as I couldn't begin to do it justice. Bruce's final wish was to raise money for Lymphoma reasearch so that more families won't have to go through what they did. Please consider making a donation to them through the link at the bottom of the post.

Here I am again. Participating in another event with Team in Training. The Manhattan Half Marathon. It's not an easy thing asking friends to give money, so doing it repeatedly seems borderline insane.

It started back in 2008, on the heels of my Aunt Joanna's fight against Breast Cancer. It was so hard watching her go through that from far away and feeling like there was nothing I could do about it.

My Mom (left) and Aunt Joanna (right.)

My grandmother, mother to my aunt and my mother, had also gone through aggressive treatment for her bout with Breast Cancer a few years earlier and as a result is still living with Chronic Leukemia as a side effect of the radiation. Cancer really sucks!

My Grandma and Grandpa Moore and me

When TNT came to my office and presented their program it felt like a win-win situation. I could support cancer research, support patients' families and also train to run a marathon, something I had always wanted to do anyway.

The experience I had was life-changing. I met so many wonderful people and had a great time. Most of all, I felt so greatful for the support of my family and friends who helped me raise nearly $5,000, something I had never done before and in many ways was harder than the marathon itself.

Last year I trained with the organization to run NYC Marathon. Since it was a local race and I was a mentor I didn't have to raise as much money. Still people came through and I felt so greatful again.

After last year I don't think I'll run another marathon (at least not for a long time.) The reason why I wanted to do the program again this year was because of the cause.

The morning of May 19th I woke up giddy with anticipation because I was about to join a group of friends for a weekend long relay event called "Reach The Beach."

Then I checked my email to find an early morning message from one of my team mates:

***

Guys,

I am so sorry, I cannot attend RTB.

My Dad went into the hospital yesterday.

My step mom just called me and told that my brothers and I need to get to Hopkins ASAP.

I leave on the next train. I will cover any part of the financials that need to be covered as well.

Best

cb

***

Our hearts immediately went to Chris' family. It was understood instantly, family and health always comes first. Before that I hadn't realized Chris' father Bruce had Lymphoma, this wasn't a group of friends I knew from TNT. We kept Chris and his father in our thoughts as we raced all weekend. Sadly, he passed away before we returned home. One of his last wishes was to raise money for research so that more families would not have to go through what they went through. I will post more about this soon, including links to Chris' sites.

Also this year I got an email from one of my colleagues who was promoting the office blood drive. His 5 year old son Colin is currently in the middle of chemotherapy for Leukemia. This news broke my heart too. Such a young life and so much of it has already been spent in the hospital. It takes a toll on the whole family and around the office we marvel at Keith as he juggles his tight schedule and makes sacrifices to take care of his family. I will share more on this story in a future post too.

Anyway, after that, I felt like I had to do something! Your on-going support is hugely appreciated. If you live in the New York area donating should be pretty painless because I'm planning on playing a show with my band and organizing a raffle with one of my team mates, Lela Moore.

So mark your calendar!!

What: The Lady Southpaw Band Rocks Out to Cure Cancer

http://www.ladysouthpaw.com/about-lady-southpaw

When: Monday December, 5

Doors 7:45pm

Where: Fontana's

http://fontanasnyc.com/

105 Eldrige, between Grand & Broome

New York, NY 10002

$20 Donation

Join the Facebook event:

http://www.facebook.com/events/281558891883079/