Gen teamed up with her best friend and neighbor, Diona, to rally for Diona’s daughter Alison. They ran the Disney Half-Marathon, and together raised more than $10,000 for the Rally Foundation. What an awesome testimony to friendship. Thanks for sharing your story Gen.

“On February 4, 2009 at 11:15 in the morning my life was forever changed.

This was the moment my dear friend called me and uttered the words, “Gen, she has it – she has leukemia.” Sure, I was no stranger to cancer – my grandfather fought it, both grandmothers battled it, two aunts and even my own father, but never had I known a child to be diagnosed. This news hit home. This could be one of my own girls. It was at this moment that I gained a new understanding about how precious our sweet children are, and how fragile life really is. Now I didn’t come to this understanding alone. A little 3 year old girl named Allison helped me.

The months following Allison’s diagnosis with ALL were a whirlwind. I watched as my dear friends’ family and life were turned upside down. It seemed as if every time I turned around Allison was headed to clinic for chemo or to the ER for a fever. I watched as her body swelled from steroids and her hair slowly thinned. I also watched as her parents tried to hold their family together all while filtering through their own emotions. My heart ached. I did what I knew to do- what any friend would do. I organized meals, I sent out emails, I took care of Allison’s sisters, I asked everyone I ran into to pray, and I listened, but I knew I wanted to do more.

Allison taught me so much during the first months following her diagnosis. She taught me how to be brave while also being graceful and dignified. She taught me how the littlest things can bring a smile to your face, she taught me how laughter really is the best medicine, and she taught me to count my blessings. Allison’s diagnosis also opened up the world of childhood cancer to me. After learning of dozens of other children battling cancer it became clear to me that I had to do more than just organize meals and lend a hand here and there.

Yes, running something longer than a 10K has always been on my list of “to-dos”, so it was easy for me to say yes to Allison’s mom when she called and said let’s run for Rally – Allie is a Rally Kid. I couldn’t imagine a more perfect opportunity to do something so important. So, it was at that moment “Team Allison” was born and that we committed to raising money to help fund childhood cancer research and to running the Walt Disney World Half Marathon scheduled for January 9, 2010.

Our fundraising efforts began in September 2009 and our training in October. Both were so rewarding. I had never trained for anything before and had never run anything longer than 6 miles. There were definitely days I didn’t want to run or face the cold, the dark or the early hours, but I am proud to say I didn’t miss a day and Allie was with me every step of the way. She was my inspiration and her spirit was what pulled me out of bed in the morning and pushed me out the door.

Our fundraising goals started out small. We set our goal for the minimum of $1200 thinking we would be so happy if we reached that goal. Well, $1200 approached quickly and we raised our goal two more times stopping finally at $8000. We were overwhelmed and humbled by people’s generosity. People gave and gave and gave. I am so proud to say that to date “Team Allison” has raised $10, 267!

I rallied for Allie on January 9, 2010! Running the Walt Disney World Half Marathon was nothing short of amazing. Yes, the race conditions were terrible…subfreezing temperatures, sleet at start time followed by a nice, steady, cold rain. Not at all what I had imagined for my first half marathon experience, but I was not deterred and I rallied on! Allison was with me every single step of the way. She was what I thought about when I hit those bumpy moments during the race and when I thought my fingers couldn’t get any colder! She has had to and will continue to endure much tougher things than I faced during the 2+ hours I spent running.

Now, find your inspiration and get out there and raise money for childhood cancer research! It’s fun, rewarding, and most importantly, it helps to save lives. Allie and the thousands of friends just like her fighting the fight of their lives thank you!” -Gen Cropp

Question: What has delicious food, one-of-a-kind auction items, fantastic fashions, and giddy girls?

Answer: Atlanta’s first ever Fashion Funds the Cure, of course!

But what is Fashion Funds the Cure Atlanta?

Glad you asked. Fashion Funds the Cure Atlanta (FFTC) will take place on Tuesday, March 30th from 6 pm – 9 pm. It is a professional runway fashion show that is held at Saks Fifth Avenue, Phipps Plaza, in conjunction with Mercedes Benz. Along with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction, and shopping, guests are treated to an amazing fashion show that also features local children who are battling cancer. These wonderful children take to the runway to model their favorite fashions and show the audience what incomparable strength, beauty, and spirit they truly have.

Fashion Funds the Cure was launched seven years ago in Tampa, Florida by the Pediatric Cancer Foundation, a nonprofit organization that funds clinical trials at ten major hospitals throughout the country in an effort to find less toxic, more targeted cures for pediatric cancer. Today, FFTC is still going strong in Tampa – and Orlando – and has recently partnered with the Rally Foundation to bring the show to Atlanta, where we are currently funding a clinical trial at the Aflac Cancer Center & Blood Disorders Service of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

We invited Dean to join us at our FFTC Tampa show last year, where 12 girls who were battling cancer, and nearly 30 others who had participated before and are now survivors, proudly walked the runway, bringing the standing room only crowd of over 500 to their feet.

Now, nearly a year later, our dream of bringing Fashion Funds the Cure to Atlanta is a reality! We are delighted to be working with the Rally Foundation in an effort to bring Atlanta an amazing, heartwarming event, the likes of which have never been seen there before! Proceeds from the show will directly fund research and benefit children battling cancer at the Aflac Cancer Center & Blood Disorders Service of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

We look forward to raising awareness of the important mission of funding research for pediatric cancer and we hope that the Atlanta community will support Rally in this exciting new event!
-written by Shelley Mizrahi with the Pediatric Cancer Foundation

Rally FoundationFebruary 15, 2010

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What could be a better way to start 2010 than with a brand new job in a brand new city with a brand new opportunity to make a difference in the world of childhood cancer? To me, there is nothing!

In January, I became the Project Coordinator for Rally and joined an incredible group of individuals united in this cause. As a survivor of childhood leukemia, I have always been committed to finding a cure for cancer. However, this job allows me to take that mission one step further.

In just one month’s time, I have already met some amazing kids and their families. Each one’s strength, courage and determination is incredible and inspiring. Whether they are 14 years old or just 2 years old, these children have the ability to change the world. They are showing people the need for more research and motivating them to make that happen! My wish is to do everything I can to help them in this cause, while also providing my own tiny piece of hope to these kids.

Adding to the excitement of the start of this year is my arrival to Atlanta. After graduating from UGA in 2009, I decided to move to Raleigh where I took a great temporary job and was closer to my family in Virginia. However, Georgia had become a part of me, and I was itching to get back! It was blessing for me to be offered this job, and I jumped at the opportunity to come back. Now, I am excited to see what the big city has to offer!

I cannot wait to see what this next year has in store. One thing is for sure, I will be doing everything I can to put an end to childhood cancer. RALLY ON!

Chris Gaffney, father of Rally Kid Madeline, not only ran the Goofy Challenge in the January 2010 Disney Martathon and Half-Marathon for the Rally Foundation but shared their story about their battle with childhood cancer.

“About a year ago, our 13 year old daughter Madeline was diagnosed with CML. She had lost a little weight in the prior 90 days, but she was a dancer and we thought she was just thinning out as she entered her teen years. She had some bruises on her knees, but we thought those were due to dancing on a hard floor. But when her dance instructor mentioned that Madeline was sitting out portions of class due to headaches and the bruises on her thighs could not have come from dance, we decided to take Madeline to the pediatrician.

Twenty four hours later, we got the call parents dread, a word you don’t ever want to hear, and we rushed Madeline to CHOA Scottish Rite in Atlanta as fast as possible. Like most parents, we did not know much about Leukemia, but after only 30 minutes in the ER, we got the diagnosis and these simple words from the oncologist to Madeline, “You have leukemia but we will fix you”. We went through a whirlwind of 9 days in the ICU as the docs and nurses worked to bring Madeline’s white counts down from a level 100 times a normal person’s, a harrowing time. It was a big deal to get out of the ICU and amazingly to be discharged two days later. Madeline’s treatment, a daily pill called Gleevec.

This drug has turned CML from one of the most deadly forms of Leukemia into one of the most survivable in only 10 years. As we learned more about this drug, we found that research that led to its creation had started in 1960. We also found that the big pharmaceutical company didn’t step in until the late 1990’s. So, the drug that saved our daughter’s life was due to the work of highly motivated doctors supported by small research grants from groups like the Rally Foundation. Research supported by Rally provides life and hope for families like ours.

We first heard about Rally when a lady named Dean Crowe came to the ICU on our third day and introduced herself to us. She had heard about our situation from a mutual friend and came to offer us a hug and words of hope and support and blue Rally shirts. She said she hoped Madeline would become a Rally Kid and that we would talk again once Madeline was stabilized. And we did. And we came to learn that Rally supports research uniquely focused on treatment and cures for childhood cancers. We also found out that Rally is special because of the Rally Kid concept, which makes the efforts to raise money very personal, because the Rally kids are real, just like Madeline. At a Rally event this past summer, Madeline got to compete in a bubble blowing contest at the Atlanta Braves game. She beat the likes of Brain McCann, the Braves All-Star catcher. It was a special event, a great memory, and a great experience for kids who are dealing with things no one should ever have to confront. As we were wrapping up the Braves game, I mentioned that I was planning to run the Marine Corps Marathon in the Fall, and Dean said “You should run Disney with the Rally team” and I said yes without thinking much about it. I didn’t think much about it until the email came from Nicole Chitty welcoming me to the team and telling me all about the Goofy Challenge, a half marathon followed by a full marathon the next day! I laughed and scratched my head but I figured, “what the heck?”

Fast forward to last week and our meeting with many of the Rally runners for last minute words of wisdom from Coach Marlene and a Pasta dinner with some Rally families. Madeline and I got to hand out the awards for the runners who raised the most money. Prior to that, we heard stories from two other Rally families, both of which were very emotional and inspirational. As we rose to walk to the front, Madeline said “Will you tell my story?” This surprised me as she is usually very reserved, but in this audience, she wanted people to know. I was struck after we finished when one of the young runners asked Madeline to take a picture with her and if she could run her race in honor of Madeline. Many of these young runners were running for Rally as a means to get into the sold out Disney races. They did a fantastic job raising money, but they got more than they bargained for in meeting some of the Rally kids and hearing their stories. There was not a dry eye in that room.

Oh yeah, what about the Goofy Challenge? To say it was cold was an understatement, with freezing rain on Saturday and 16 degree wind chill on Sunday. It was a wonderful race and it was fantastic to see Rally team supporters at points along the way cheering for us and giving us encouragement. It was a spiritual and emotional experience to think of Madeline and her struggles along with all of the other Rally Kids when I approached the tough miles at the end of the marathon. And it was awesome to see Coach Marlene at the finish and get a hug from her and tell her I was OK, finishing the marathon in 4:38 after a 2:15 finish in the half marathon. It was a wonderful weekend for our family, a memory we will cherish forever. And yes, I will be back again next year, proudly wearing my Red Rally athlete shirt.” -Chris Gaffney

Rally Athlete Bridgette Nitza-Buwala, age 16, found the courage and inspiration to complete the Disney Half-Marathon from her Rally Kid, Miracle. Thanks Bridgette for sharing your experience.

“ ‘There are no miracles for those who have no faith in them’ (French Proverb). This quote significantly applies to the experience I just had in Florida and the few months that lead up to it.

Throughout the entire process, I had faith in miracles, and I had hope for Miracle. Miracle was the little girl I was ready to run in support of at the Disney half marathon. This little girl has been battling Stage 3 Burkitt’s Lymphoma, found at only the age of 3. What was running 13.1 miles compared to living with the fear of a disease such as cancer? There is no comparison. Doing something you love for a great cause is the most rewarding experience a 16-year-old can have.

My training began at the start of this past summer. Every weekday, I ran about three miles, and every Saturday, I ran six to eight. I had a support group right along with me, friends from the cross-country team, my coaches and an avid runner, Mary Zielinski. When the cross country season began, I went to practice every day after school, carrying out various workouts and trying to keep up with my long runs through the canals of Sharpsburg on weekends. I was very honored when my coaches (Becky Walter and Sean Cutsail) named me a captain. Running the last sixteen miles of the JFK 50-miler with Coach Walter gave me the confidence to know I would be able to complete the 13.1 miles. Track season soon began, and the number of long runs I ran decreased. However, the track workouts helped me with my speed.

January 9th came sooner than I had anticipated. Waking up at 3:00 a.m., I was ready to run my first half marathon ever. The Florida weather was nothing like anyone would have expected. Sleet, rain and freezing tempertures kept my race challenging. Training in Maryland had prepared me well. The atmosphere was like no other; thousands of people were all running for their own purpose. Christmas lights were shown through both Epcot and Magic kingdom. Each mile was marked as I counted down, 10, seven and then only three more. I kept glancing at my watch and anticipated the end. As soon as I saw the Christmas tree in Epcot, I picked up my pace, knowing the finish was near. I completed the half marathon in 2hrs. 3min. and 24sec., two minutes under the time I was hoping for. The experience I had is still surreal. I met some amazing people running for a remarkable cause. Now, I encourage you to have the faith as runners as we did at the Disney marathon weekend. Take your passion, and use it to help others! ”

Click below to read The Herald-Mail article featuring Bridgette

The Herald-Mail (Sharpsburg teen completes Walt Disney marathon in Orlando)

This is Rally Foundation’s newest video. It is about the foundation and our programs and it is full of new photos! Please watch it and share it with your friends. Thank you.

Although we know there are thousand of reasons you may want one, we are going to list only ten:

1. The red and blue colors are irresistible

2. Every time you go to a Rally event it would feel like you are one of us–although we try to make you feel like one of us with or without the T-shirt

3. It’s a great conversation starter: “what is Rally foundation?” ” what do they actually do?” “would you like to have coffee sometimes?”

4. You can wear it to work even if it is not casual Friday (that may not apply to your work, but this idea fits great in the context)

5. You can add it to your already existent Rally T-shirt collection

6. It’s both chic and casual–but then, again, it all depends on who you hang out with

7. You do not even have to volunteer to get it

8. Wearing this T-shirt comes with a side of high self esteem and peer recognition

9. It comes in a very unique, fashionable style also known as “the good old American T-shirt”

10. Ultimately, wearing it may not make your cold feel better, write your homework faster or fix dinner but it would certainly make a difference in the fight against childhood cancer.

So here is your chance to receive a free Rally T-shirt as one of the donors to commit to giving $25 each month in 2010.

Donate to Rally Foundation for a free T-shirt

David Loeb MD, PHD from Dr. David’s blog–Musings of a Pediatric Oncologist agreed to share his last article, “A Smarter War on Cancer” with us. Please see his article below and feel free to post your comments in regards to his perspective.

“The headline in the Washington Post caught my eye: “Fighting a smarter war on cancer,” [sorry, you must register to read the article] an opinion piece by Dr. John Marshall, a faculty member at the Lombardi Cancer Center in Georgetown. It is about the intersection between health care reform and cancer care – it seemed like just the thing to read while drinking my morning coffee. But halfway through the article I found myself feeling marginalized, and that got me thinking. Although Dr. Marshall makes some good points, I think he missed a golden opportunity to propose changes that could make a real difference in our lifetimes.

How did Dr. Marshall make me feel marginalized? He wrote the following about chemotherapy:

“The most common approach to treatment involves exposing large populations of patients to highly toxic poisons in the hopes that the treatment will kill the cancer cells and not the patient. This strategy has succeeded with several types of less-common cancers, curing some patients with leukemia, lymphoma, testicular cancer and most childhood cancers [emphasis is mine]. But it has not worked for more common forms of the disease, including breast, prostate, lung, colon, pancreas, stomach and ovarian cancers. These cancers represent an enormous public health problem, consuming the majority of our cancer-specific health-care costs and research dollars.”

I realize that childhood cancer is rare, and that to make an impact on the total health care system in our country will require real progress against such public health menaces as breast and lung cancer. However, I believe that rather than brushing aside the approach that transformed childhood cancer from a death sentence to a treatable disease, the medical oncology world needs to embrace it.

Most oncologists know this, but in a single generation, collaborative clinical research in pediatric oncology, exemplified now by the Children’s Oncology Group, has revolutionized the way childhood cancer is treated in this country. Once uniformly fatal, there are now some types of childhood cancer that are cured 95% of the time. This transformation did not come about by chance. It came about because of a culture change that is now a huge gulf between pediatric oncology and medical oncology: the role of the clinical trial.

Dr. Marshall hints at this in his article: “In cancer medicine, fewer than 5 percent of all patients in the United States enter clinical trials. That means more than 95 percent are treated with the ‘standard of care’ — a legal term denoting a minimum level of care for an ill or injured person.” In contrast, being entered on a clinical trial IS the standard of care in pediatric oncology. Partly this is born out of necessity – childhood cancer is rare enough that unless nearly every child with cancer is treated on a trial, not enough patients can be studied to yield reliable results, making progress impossible.

The cultural difference in the view of clinical trials between medical and pediatric oncology is readily apparent in my every day practice, particularly when I have to approach an insurance company about enrolling a patient of mine on a trial. In the “adult” world, a clinical trial is something offered when there is nothing “standard” to offer, just as Dr. Marshall implies. What this means is that insurance companies often feel justified in denying coverage for trials, since these are “experimental therapies” and “not standard.” In the “pediatric” world, everyone goes on a clinical trial. Coverage is routine, because the trial IS the standard.

Dr. Marshall makes an excellent point about where the future of cancer therapy lies. He believes, as do I, that the future is in “personalized medicine,” meaning treatments that are individualized for each patient, based on the molecular and cellular composition of their individual cancer. Unfortunately, therein lies the problem. In the world of “personalized medicine,” there will be no standard. What works for Patient A will not necessarily help Patient B. Destruction of the concept of “standard of care” in oncology will make coverage decisions by insurance companies far more complex. This will need to be accounted for as we move towards a reformed health insurance system.

More importantly, demonstrating the value of “personalized medicine” will require more clinical trials. Only by enrolling patients in such trials, painstakingly dissecting the molecular changes in each patient’s tumor, and carefully proving that tailoring therapy based on these changes dramatically improves outcomes can real progress be made. Because these molecular changes will, by definition, vary widely from patient to patient, treating only 5% of adults with cancer on clinical trials will never get us to where we need to be. The medical oncology world needs to learn from the successes of pediatric oncology. Being treated on a clinical trial needs to be the standard, not something that is reserved for use when “standard of care” fails.

Instead of marginalizing pediatric oncology, hold our system up as the model. Only then will real progress be made in the war on cancer.”

Please vote for the Rally Foundation! I’m glad that through facebook we can contribute to the fight against childhood cancer just by submitting our vote. Chase Community Giving is donating $5,000,000 to charities around the USA. Facebook users are voting for the recipients!

When I asked our North West correspondent, Kathi Clarke, to write a blog post about the preparations for the Seattle Rock n Roll I knew she will speak from her heart and write a great message.

Rally Kid, Kelsie April Grace McKune was my niece. I was fortunate enough to be her aunt for 14 all-too short years. On November 23, we are coming up on two years since she passed away from Burkitts Lymphoma. This time of year, with the leaves falling, is such a reminder of Kelsie’s last days. The sadness we are filled with, however, is just fuel to fight for other children. Fuel to form the biggest Rally team possible for the Seattle Rock-n-Roll Marathon on June 26, 2010!

My brother had ran in the Seattle Marathon for LLS Team in Training the year following Kelsie’s passing. He had a wonderful experience in doing so, but knowing the lack of funding for childhood cancer research, said the only thing he would like to change in the experience is more funding going to Childhood Cancer. We contacted Nicole at Rally to inquire about getting a team started here in Washington State to run in the Seattle Rock-n-Roll Marathon. After learning of how much interest we have here in Washington, Nicole got the ball rolling by signing Rally up as an official charity of the race! We have had tremendous response, and we are currently gearing up for two more Rally “Northwest Team” info nights here.

Because Rally is allowing us to direct funds to Seattle Childrens Oncology Research, we have had a lot of interest and support from their staff. Our goal is to have a team of 50-100 runners and to make this an annual event and to grow our Rally Northwest Team every year, raising funding and awareness.
In addition to recruiting and organizing the team I am going to run/walk/crawl in memory of my niece, Kelsie.

I am absolutely not a runner, but it will be great for my health, great to do it with the team. You couldn’t have better motivation than running for a Rally Kid, being part of a whole team of people focusing on the same goal! We have some wonderful local coaches who are volunteering their time and expertise to help us. We will have team practices weekly, always including a story of a Rally Child to motivate us, some being told personally. We are going to have an amazing team, an amazing experience and I am so thrilled to do this in memory of my niece, Kelsie McKune, and so many other children affected by childhood cancer.
I hope to update you all again after the race with a story of much success and hopefulness for an even bigger team for the Seattle Rock-n-Roll Rally Northwest Team for 2011!
If you or anyone you know may be interested in joining our team, please go to the Rally Foundation Page or join our Facebook Group.

Kathi Clarke