On May 21st, my beautiful ten year old niece, Haley, was diagnosed with High Risk Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. She is considered high risk because at the time of diagnosis her White Blood Count (WBC) was so high.  Because of this, her treatment plan is aggressive and will last 2 1/2 years. 

I was devasted when I learned of Haley's diagnosis and I wanted to do "something" to feel like I was helping. I have committed to raise funds for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as a participant in their Team In Training (TNT) program. I will do the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. on October 25th in Haley’s honor and will give Haley my finisher’s medal. I will have Haley's name written on one arm and Karys's name (Haley's twin) on my other arm. It will be awesome to hear hundreds of people cheering "GO HALEY, YOU CAN DO IT! and GO KARYS, YOU CAN DO IT" at the exact same time. I will have TWIN POWER with me throughout 26.2 miles!

Each donation helps accelerate finding a cure for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. I am hoping that my participation in TNT will help bring Haley and the other one million Americans battling blood cancers hope and support!

On behalf of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and my entire family, thank you very much for your support. We greatly appreciate your generosity.

Thank you from Haley ...  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajH2Qjn5u5w

 Jenny 

P.S. Thank you to everyone who bought a bracelet. We have sold all 830 bracelets!

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At one Saturday run, I got to share Haley's story with the team. My brother, dad, husband, daughter and Haley's twin sister Karys were also there. Karys passed out badges that say "Going the distance for Haley." Here's a video of "clap it out" which we do after each Mission Moment on Saturdays. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ms4pN_RHcc

My brother, Mike, shared this message afterwards: 

For those of you who run, we all know how hard each mile is, for those who do not we know how hard it is to try to do a mile to begin with. To have a sister who would take on the challenge of doing a marathon to raise money and awareness is beyond the definition of a hero. Then to see the other people who are all doing the same was truly inspiring. It is a hard road watching my daughter go through this, a lot of questions and more unanswered questions. To be honest it is very easy to lose faith and hope. When you see random strangers bonding together for such a good cause it gives the inspiration and the strength back to me knowing that my family can get through this. That is a truly priceless gift.

I thank all of you so much, and I hope that you all get the chance to actually get to know my sister.  She is one of the truly amazing people that you hear are out there, but you never meet. I am fortunate to have known her my whole life and she has never once left my side.  She is my definition of the Angel God has given to me. I cannot express my thanks enough.  And, yes, I am your biggest cheerleader.