The 1st annual Jason Ackerman Memorial Bowl-A-Thon benefitting the Children’s Cancer Center is scheduled for August 24th from 1pm-4pm, with registration opening at noon.
It will be held at Pin Chasers, 5555 W Hillsborough Ave, Tampa.
Registration fees are $200 for a team of 5 including celebrity, $100 for a team of 5, 2 games per team. There are only 20 Celebrity Teams available. You can also sponsor a team if you’d like and offer the chance to bowl to a CCC family or volunteer.
All teams are encouraged to raise additional funds to help support the children and families at the Children’s Cancer Center. There will be prizes for the team that raises the most money, plus a raffle and silent auction.
I don’t know if I can fully express in a paragraph what the Children’s Cancer Center offers to a family like mine. At a time when we felt like we were completely overwhelmed with the changes in our lives, the Center gave us a safe haven to feel normal and to be understood. It has given us the gift of friendship with so many families, enabled us to learn how to be a better family through the struggle and encouraged and supported us through each day. We have been truly blessed to have the CCC in our lives and events like this ensure that it and it’s programs will be available for the next child and family in need.
**********************************
The Cure Kids Cancer Challenge is a 5K/1M run/walk event. It is a grassroots effort that came to be because of the drive and determination of parents of cancer children. 2007 was the birth of this event and our hopes were to cover the costs of the event and learn from it. Instead, we ended up raising over $80,000! This went for the Sunshine Project research program through the Pediatric Cancer Foundation. In June 2008, the first three children were accepted into clinical trials through this research. It takes $12,000 a year to keep a child in a clinical trial, so every dollar raised is precious and life-saving.
2008’s event will be held in Park Square of FishHawk Ranch in Brandon, FL. It is on September 13, coinciding with the new National Childhood Cancer day. Registration begins at 7:30AM with the start time at 9:00AM. The run/walk portion of the event will be followed by a family fun day with games, events, music, food and raffles.
Registration is already open and available here. I encourage you to come out and be a part of this day if you are local. I implore you to consider starting a team and coming to walk for these kids. Even if you can’t be here in person, you can register online as a Satellite walker and raise money and do your own walk in honor of these courageous little ones.
If it isn’t possible that you can be a part of this day with us, please consider sponsoring our team in honor of Peyton. I will let you know when our team is registered and donations are accepted.
**********************************
How can I give money to a charity that will offer awesome support to families with children battling cancer?
You were just asking yourself that? That’s AWESOME because I totally have a way for you to do just that.
The charity is the Children’s Cancer Center and in honor of National Childhood Cancer Month in September they are encouraging businesses and offices to get in the spirit of giving.
What’s YOUR office doing to promote awareness of kids fighting cancer? Nothing? PLEASE take this flyer in and see if you can change that.
**********************************
Eat at Columbia Restaurant in September & Fund Kids’ Cancer Research
Let your taste buds do the giving in support of the Pediatric Cancer Foundation or another local non-profit when you dine at any Columbia Restaurant in September, during the 11th Annual Columbia Restaurant Community Harvest program. September is also National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Through this program, Columbia Restaurant donates 5% of all guests’ lunch and dinner checks to charitable organizations chosen by their customers during the month of September. The Community Harvest will be in effect at the Columbia Restaurants in Ybor City, Sarasota, St. Augustine, The Pier in St. Petersburg, Sand Key on Clearwater Beach and Central Florida’s Town of Celebration. Columbia Restaurant is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner.
Over the past ten years, the Columbia Restaurant Community Harvest has donated over $820,000 to over 100 non-profit organizations throughout Florida. The Pediatric Cancer Foundation asks that you consider choosing their organization as the benefiting charity when you dine at Columbia in September. The Pediatric Cancer Foundation is a Tampa-based foundation dedicated to funding research to find the cure that will eliminate childhood cancer worldwide forever.
“We would love to see Floridians support us in a big way during the 11th Annual Columbia Restaurant Community Harvest, so eventually no child ever has to die from this dreaded disease,” said Barbara Rebold, executive director for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation.
“We started this program in 1998 as a way of contributing to the many non-profit groups that are so important to our communities,” noted Richard Gonzmart, 4th generation family member and president of the Columbia Restaurant. “We thought the best way to do this was by letting our customers get involved in selecting the organizations. The process is simple. They just put a check mark next to the name of one of the charitable organizations listed on the form we provide to them, or they can write in the name of their favorite charity, and turn it in to their server. We do the rest,” explained Gonzmart.
###
About the Columbia Restaurant
The Columbia Restaurant was founded in 1905 and is Florida’s oldest restaurant. Locations include the flagship restaurant in Tampa’s Historic Ybor City, St. Armand’s Circle in Sarasota, the Historic District in St. Augustine, The Pier in St. Petersburg, Sand Key on Clearwater Beach and Central Florida’s town of Celebration. All Columbia Restaurants are owned and operated by 4th and 5th generation members of the founding family. To learn more visit www.columbiarestaurant.com.
About the Pediatric Cancer Foundation
With its national headquarters here in Tampa, the Pediatric Cancer Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding research to eliminate childhood cancer. To date, the Foundation has funded more than $3.5 million to researchers throughout the United States including St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital and H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa, All Children’s Research Institute in St. Petersburg, the University of Florida in Gainesville, and the University of Miami School of Medicine.
The Sunshine Project is the Foundation’s collaborative research program which fast-tracks the development of much-needed new drugs and therapies that will ultimately lead to the cure of childhood cancers. The Sunshine Project employs researchers from the country’s top institutions to significantly improve the survival rate of children with solid tumors. To learn more visit www.fastercure.org.
**********************************
ANGLERS & CELEBRITIES GATHER TO FIGHT PEDIATRIC CANCER FOR 11th YEAR
Top anglers will team with celebrities to raise money for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation (PCF) this November 14-16 at the 11th annual Mercury Grand Slam Celebrity Fishing Tournament. Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs will once again be the honorary host for the event.
The festivities will take place at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort Hotel in St. Petersburg and is considered the premier fishing tournament on Florida’s West Coast. Celebrities and avid fishermen will gather in their quest to snag the biggest fish while raising money to “reel in a cure” for childhood cancer.
The tournament is a favorite among master fishermen, sponsors and celebrities.
Event highlights include:
The Steve Yerrid Kid’s Fishing Derby – Held at the Vinoy Basin on Friday morning, November 14, children with cancer and their families will learn to fish, have the chance to put their lines in the water in search of the ultimate catch and eat lunch with tournament celebrities.
The Fishermen’s Ball – Presented by Mercedes-Benz USA, this invitation only tropical gala will be held Friday evening, November 14, in the Vinoy Palm Court Ballroom. Guests will enjoy a sit down dinner, along with a live and silent auction that boasts numerous sought-after items.
Inshore fishing – On Saturday, November 15, the action on the water begins as boats loaded with celebrities, fishing guides and fishermen participate in the inshore division of the two-day tournament. Competitors depart from the Vinoy Yacht Basin, with fishing taking place in Tampa Bay tributaries for redfish, snook and trout. Inshore boats typically carry two anglers, a celebrity and professional fishing guide.
Awards – Inshore anglers will be competing for beautiful trophies to be awarded during a cookout Sunday afternoon at 5 p.m. at the Vinoy.
Sponsorship and angler entries for the tournament are available by contacting PCF at 813-269-0955. Coastal Conservation Association officials will provide scoring, and their organization will partially benefit from event proceeds.
**********************************
This is a letter from Christina Cournia - she is running a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Nike Marathon. It’s people like her who are fighting to get us closer to a day when cancer is cured. She is running in honor of her cousin Kit who lost his battle and Peyton.
This little cutie’s 4 year old Peyton. She’s a ray of sunshine who’s been bravely fighting Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) since she was 2. I was introduced to Peyton and her family through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) website. She’s an inspiration to me as I train these next few months & run for her & in honor of my cousin Kit. As I’m training, anything I might find hard in these next few months pale in comparison to what Peyton has and will go through. Peyton is also a story of success! She and her family found out in May that her spinal fluid came back free of cancer! Hooray!
It’s stories like this that make you realize how important it is to keep fighting for a cure. In fact, it’s because of the research made possible through fundraising programs like Team in Training that the survival rates for the most common form of leukemia have increased from 4% to 85%! But we can’t stop there, and that is why I am back fundraising for cures like the one that has put Peyton on the road to remission!
I want to inspire people as I train and complete the Nike Women’s ½ Marathon in San Francisco this October along side over 20,000 other Team in Training (TNT) participants. In the past few years you may remember I’ve partnered with TNT, part of LLS, to complete my first Olympic triathlon & 100mile century bike ride. Through these events and with the help from many of you I was able to raise over $5,500 to help fund extraordinary research for blood cancers right here in Oregon up at OHSU.
Being a cardiac ICU nurse, I devote much of my time caring for people & helping them to get well so they can live a better life. However, I can’t take away or cure blood cancers as much as I try and want to. What I can do is raise money for research that can find and is finding cures for people like Peyton. That’s why I’ve committed to raising over $3,300 this time. My goal is to fulfill my pledge amount by August 20th so your quick response is greatly appreciated! (of course I’ll still accept donations through October 20!)
Great advances have been made over the past few years & survival rates are increasing with each advancement. My personnel connection to leukemia started with my cousin Kit who was diagnosed with ALL at the age of 19. The LLS played a huge role in his fight, providing much needed information and resources to the family and were a real presence supporting him through his battle. Even amidst his radiation & chemo, Kit found the strength to be one of my biggest supporters cheering me on and even donating his own money to my fundraising. Kit went home to be with the Lord on June 17, 2006, just 6 days before the Pacific Crest Triathlon. That race was dedicated to him as I raced in his honor. My involvement with Kit’s daily battle and my partnering with TNT meant so much to Kit. He never gave up fighting his battle and he didn’t want me to give up on finding a cure. Even though there wasn’t a cure for him he wanted a cure to be there for others, a cure that will hopefully be found sooner because of the research that is being funded through this program.
Just thinking about the chemotherapy and radiation treatments that children and adults go through amazes me. Kit and Peyton are the reason and motivation for participating in this ½ marathon. Running is not something that comes easy for me, in fact, it’s darn right hard! But Kit and Peyton have been and continue to be my inspiration, knowing that they have and will face so much more in these upcoming months. Running a ½ marathon seems like a lot to me but I know that it is nothing compared to what they have had to endure.
Through my involvement with TNT, I have been shocked time & time again of all the personal stories and connections people have to cancer—a family member, co-worker or friend. Cancer, unfortunately, is one of those things that touches almost everyone in some shape or form.
So, I’m asking for your help, however big or small. All donations are tax deductible and over 75% of all the money goes directly to research and patient support.
You can donate with cash, checks or on-line on my webpage.
New life saving developments are discovered and fine tuned each year.
Please be a part of my team as I run this race to save valuable lives!
Christina Cournia
http://pages.teamintraining.org/or/nikesf09/ccournia
