Almost 6 years ago I joined the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s TEAM in Training. I trained for, and ran, the Mardi Gras Half Marathon in February 2008 while raising money, awareness and forwarding the mission of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Last year a good friend of ours, April DeLoach, was diagnosed with cancer, and seeing her struggles with this horrible disease, I wanted to do more than donate blood. I want to see a cure! Butch and I first met April and her husband Trey while the guys were working on their forestry degrees at Mississippi State University. The first time I met them was after a football game when their son was a small infant. I remember thinking, “I can’t believe they brought him to a football game.” Fast forward about 12 years and we were doing the same thing with our son! April became a school teacher and has worked her way up the ladder of school administration with the Madison County Public Schools. In September 2012, April was feeling stressed, overwhelmed and not really herself. This was thought to be due to a recent move, the start of a new school year and everything else that goes on with having two kids. Finally after several tests and trips to various doctors, she was diagnosed with ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia). She has been undergoing chemotherapy, blood transfusions and most recently, a bone marrow transplant. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services. The Society is a nonprofit organization that relies on the generosity of individual and corporate contributions to advance its mission. TEAM in Training is the largest and most successful endurance training program in the United States and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s signature fundraising program. TEAM in Training has raised over $1.3 billion dollars for cancer research while training walkers, runners, hikers, cyclists and triathletes to complete their desired endurance event. My goal is to raise $2,500 while training for the Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Half Marathon in February 2014. I am asking you to donate to this great organization to help the Aprils, the Colbys, the Andrews and the Ryans of the world; the ones battling every single day. No donation is too small! Or too big! You can donate online at my fundraising page or mail a check made out to LLS to me at 11 Summer Oaks Hattiesburg, MS 39402. I will keep you posted on my training and fundraising efforts (while wearing lots of purple). You can keep up with April’s progress via the Team April DeLoach Facebook page. Thank you so much for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon! GO TEAM! Toni Hutchinson Bailey pages.teamintraining.org/msla/mardigra14/tonibailey tonibailey@gmail 601.596.7966
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 10:17:10 +0000
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