Cancer Resource Center to Benefit from Coast to Coast Run
The Ida & Joseph Friend Cancer Resource Center (CRC) is one of three cancer facilities nationwide that will benefit from a cross-country charity run kicking off in July, which will span the nation from San Francisco to Rhode Island.
The Coast to Coast: A Run for Survivorship event is the brainchild of a 23-year-old high school teacher from Fairfield, CT. Christian McEvoy is preparing to run approximately 3,500 miles with a team of runners until mid-December to increase public awareness of cancer and survivorship.
"The personal challenge I'll face as I run across the country is really insignificant when compared to the challenges cancer survivors face every day," said McEvoy. "Each individual mile I run will be in honor of a cancer patient, victim or survivor."
Cancer survivorship
Cancer survivorship is the experience of living with, through and beyond the diagnosis of cancer. "We're using this run to bring attention to cancer in 10 million people in the US. And we hope that in addition to raising money for this issue, we can raise awareness across the country," he said. As a beneficiary, the CRC, located at UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion, will receive at least 50 percent of the donations raised through a high school challenge. Students and faculty from area high schools are encouraged to participate by forming relay teams and running segments of the route with McEvoy. Along the route across the country, the team will be meeting with cancer patients and survivors through visits with hospitals, cancer centers and clinics. "Our goal is to use these visits to express our support of their efforts to continue their survivorship story, and to raise public awareness of the need for ongoing research and treatment options," said McEvoy. The Challenge America Foundation's Coast to Coast Run is a first-time run that is raising money for beneficiaries around the United States. Running for the CRC
"The runners participating in the Coast to Coast Run will be running for a great cause," said Mimi Roth, senior program manager at the CRC. "It is through these generous opportunities that the CRC is able to operate and provide services to cancer patients and their support group of family and friends for free. It is actually quite exciting that so many will be running across the country on our behalf." McEvoy is a 2004 graduate of Fairfield University, where he combined his studies with athletics. In 2005, when he was asked to help with the Connecticut Challenge, a bike ride to benefit cancer survivorship, he was inspired to organize the Coast to Coast Run. Sponsors of the run include corporations, colleges and high schools, as well as individuals. Through a high school challenge, students can join the team by obtaining pledges and running alongside McEvoy as a relay team or as individuals. "High school students are an untapped resource - they're energetic and powerful, and cancer is an issue that can affect them. Their generation will be surviving cancer more and more," explained McEvoy. "The high school students care because they can change the idea of a diagnosis to survivor. They're interested in being a part of this. It's impossible to know someone in high school that doesn't have cancer." The race, which kicks off at Baker Beach in San Francisco, is scheduled to end in Narragansett, RI. In between, the six-month run will take the team through Denver, Chicago, Cleveland, New York and New Haven. For more information on Coast to Coast: A Run for Survivorship, visit here.
Cancer survivorship is the experience of living with, through and beyond the diagnosis of cancer. "We're using this run to bring attention to cancer in 10 million people in the US. And we hope that in addition to raising money for this issue, we can raise awareness across the country," he said. As a beneficiary, the CRC, located at UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion, will receive at least 50 percent of the donations raised through a high school challenge. Students and faculty from area high schools are encouraged to participate by forming relay teams and running segments of the route with McEvoy. Along the route across the country, the team will be meeting with cancer patients and survivors through visits with hospitals, cancer centers and clinics. "Our goal is to use these visits to express our support of their efforts to continue their survivorship story, and to raise public awareness of the need for ongoing research and treatment options," said McEvoy. The Challenge America Foundation's Coast to Coast Run is a first-time run that is raising money for beneficiaries around the United States. Running for the CRC
"The runners participating in the Coast to Coast Run will be running for a great cause," said Mimi Roth, senior program manager at the CRC. "It is through these generous opportunities that the CRC is able to operate and provide services to cancer patients and their support group of family and friends for free. It is actually quite exciting that so many will be running across the country on our behalf." McEvoy is a 2004 graduate of Fairfield University, where he combined his studies with athletics. In 2005, when he was asked to help with the Connecticut Challenge, a bike ride to benefit cancer survivorship, he was inspired to organize the Coast to Coast Run. Sponsors of the run include corporations, colleges and high schools, as well as individuals. Through a high school challenge, students can join the team by obtaining pledges and running alongside McEvoy as a relay team or as individuals. "High school students are an untapped resource - they're energetic and powerful, and cancer is an issue that can affect them. Their generation will be surviving cancer more and more," explained McEvoy. "The high school students care because they can change the idea of a diagnosis to survivor. They're interested in being a part of this. It's impossible to know someone in high school that doesn't have cancer." The race, which kicks off at Baker Beach in San Francisco, is scheduled to end in Narragansett, RI. In between, the six-month run will take the team through Denver, Chicago, Cleveland, New York and New Haven. For more information on Coast to Coast: A Run for Survivorship, visit here.