Busy ten weeks ahead
One social mediathon, one 20 mile walk, one lobbying trip, one dinner, one craft and yard sale, working with doctors, caregivers, and patients, and daily efforts to recruit walkers and donors for both our Relay for Life team and our Jimmy Fund Marathon Walk team: that’s what my life looks like for the next several weeks in the run-up to the Relay For Life of Greater Fall River June 27-28 at Bishop Connolly High School.
I know precisely what it means to be a widow or widower.
When I list just the cancer work on my plate like that–and combine it with the usual spring house projects–it is easy to get overwhelmed by everything. But my life has never been less than busy. What makes this tough is facing it–as I have everything since Jane’s death–without her. But that loneliness is a constant reminder of how important this work is to the lives of others.
Raising awareness and cash, Thursday
The heavy lifting for the Walking with Jane 24-in-24 Challenge Social Mediathon on Thursday has already begun. Putting together the ideas and materials for 12 hours of programming takes some time and some thought. The good news is that others have already done much of the video work that needs to be done and it is a simple matter of collecting those materials from the appropriate sources.
…my life has never been less than busy.
Unlike, however, our November Zebra Social Mediathon, this effort is also connected with trying to raise a substantial chunk of money. The goal this year is to raise $2400 in 24 hours. Last year, that was the goal as well. But we only managed about $1600 with that effort compared to the $2400 we raised the previous year with a simple email campaign. All the money we raise will benefit our Walking with Jane Relay for Life of Greater Fall River team.
Talking to politicians, recruiting sports teams
April 30, I’ll be in Boston to talk with state senator Mike Rodrigues about a palliative care bill the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network is backing in the Massachusetts legislature. I’ll also be talking with him about getting a proclamation issued making November NET Cancer Awareness Month again this year. I want to get that done early so that we can work with several other groups to make NET Cancer Awareness Month much more broadly acknowledged by real people in the Commonwealth and elsewhere.
The goal this year is to raise $2400 in 24 hours.
A number of us are hoping to get all our professional sports teams in New England to put a zebra ribbon on their uniforms in November. That will require dealing with the various leagues as well as the teams. Having that proclamation in hand will make that a bit easier. We’re also trying to get a formal presentation of the proclamation with a truckload of dignitaries, patients and caregivers in attendance so that we can get the media attention we need to really make people aware of carcinoid/NETs.
Teaming up with ADVOCATS and the Grange
May 22, we will help the Westport High School ADVOCATS put on a clam cake and chowder dinner at the WHS cafeteria in Westport, MA. The last two years we did a spaghetti dinner that did not do as well as we would have liked last year. Depending on how the event goes, we may give up on dinners in the future. This event also supports our Walking with Jane Relay for Life of Greater Fall River team. Tickets are $12 per person.
…we need to really make people aware of carcinoid/NETs.
Just over a week later, on June 1, we’ll host our Third Annual Walking with Jane Yard & Craft Sale at the Westport Grange Hall. Admission is free. Vendors pay $25 for an indoor or outdoor site–all of which goes to our Walking with Jane Relay for Life of Greater Fall River team. We already have six people interested in joining us with things to sell, and I just posted the event broadly yesterday.
Walking the Walk–literally
I’ll personally be doing a lot of walking between now and the Relay For Life. May 4, I’ll tackle the 20 miles of the Walk for Hunger. May 17 I travel to Chelmsford for the Cystic Fibrosis Walk. And every day I’ll put in at least five miles–and often 10–as I train to spend the night on the track June 27-28.
… I just posted the event broadly yesterday.
Killing cancer, like beating hunger or cystic fibrosis or MS, takes lots of money and lots of effort. But that effort is as nothing to the effort that patients and their families face. I can’t tell you what it is like to be a patient. I can tell you what it takes to be a caregiver and a spouse. And I know precisely what it means to be a widow or widower. I live that life every day. I want no one else to face that life as a result of cancer.
