My Fundraising Page

The Will to Go On!

Hello Friends!

Over the past year, many of us have had difficult times. Personally, I have witnessed so much sickness and death and realized that I needed to do something about it. With that I decided to rejoin Team in Training in order to help stop the loss of many lives.

For those of you who don't know me, let me tell you my story. My name is Christine Oquendo and I work as a Registered Nurse in Southeast Florida. I may have even taken care of your child, or you may have been next to me when I was taking care of mine. See, before I became a Nurse, I had a much more difficult job of being a Mom.

On February 7, 1997, my worst nightmare became true. My second son, Justin John Steed was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, he was only 5 years old. As he was battling this disease we received a lot of support from people who cared. He had such a strong will to live that I went public out of desperation to find a Bone Marrow Donor that could save his life. However, 17 months later he lost the fight on July 3, 1998

There are so many people who are still suffering from Leukemia, Lymphoma, Hodgkin's Lymphoma and Myeloma. Since I have finally healed emotionally from Justin's death, I am now ready and able to help those in need. To do this, I have joined The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training. This dedicated group raises money for research to help stop the loss of lives to these deadly blood cancers.

As a member of Team in Trainining, on January 8, 2011, I will participate in the Walt Disney World Half Marathon. This annual international event, recognizes all Blood Cancer victims by raising awareness and millions of dollars for research that is neccessary to find a cure. However, I need your help in order to make this possible.

Please make an online donation now to support my dedication to Team In Training which will help other families like mine. If you can't afford to contribute today you can also vote daily for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to receive a grant from The Pepsi Refresh Project. Join and register online http://www.refresheverything.com/leukemiaandlymphomasociety or you can text,102015 to Pepsi (73774), every vote counts, everyday.

There are also other ways to help. Please visit www.lls.org or donate blood at your nearest Florida Blood Center http://www.floridasbloodcenters.org/fbc-locations/.

Also, please consider becoming a Bone Marrow Donor in order to save a life. www.marrow.org/HELP/Join_the_Registry/index.html

Please spread the word by forwarding this website to your family, your friends, your church, your doctor, your co-workers and your boss as the company that you work for may want to be a sponsor or may be able to donate items that will be helpful for the team. Tell everyone that you know about TEAM IN TRAINING!

Please also visit Justin's Website www.justin-steed.memory-of.com as I will post additional updates regarding our progress. If you see Team In Training out early on a Saturday morning or you see me running alone, please honk so that we know that you care or get out and run with us. We can't do it without you! Also, please wear purple in support of our TEAM, GO TNT! Thank you for your encouragement and support!