Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Fred K’s Cancer June 20, 2010

Registration began at 8:30 am, so The Freds and TBB met at Cantiague Park at 7:00 am in parking lot #2 in order to set up the registration table and install the trail markers.
At the table, we hung a poster that Lisa made of a thermometer tracking our fundraising process. We were at $1,600, $400 shy of our goal. We figured that once we collected everyone’s registration fee, we’d be up to $1,700, which we felt was still pretty good considering our poor start and that it was the first Fred K’s Cancer event.
Serena created a poster that showed support for the victims of oral and testicular cancer, as well as conveyed just how many people had been touched by the diseases. In addition to the people that we were walking in support of or in memory of, the poster included the names of celebrities who had been diagnosed by one of the diseases. To name a few: George Harrison, Aaron Spelling, Humphrey Bogart, Eddie Van Halen, and Bruce Paltrow were all diagnosed with oral cancer. John Kruk, Mike Lowell, Sean Kimerling, Scott Schoenweiss, and Lance Armstrong all suffered from testicular cancer.
We made sure to have brochures on hand as well as a few items to sell in support of Fred K’s Cancer such as awareness pins, raffles, and beaded bracelets.
Each walker received a gift bag with their event t-shirt, a water bottle, brochures regarding Fred K’s Cancer, Oral Cancer Foundation, and Sean Kimerling Testicular Cancer Foundation, assorted items from the foundations, as well as a variety of free samples donated by our Avon representative, Nicole Giannakakis, and Vita Zorbo of the Lady of America Fitness Center in West Hempstead. The event t-shirts were generously sponsored by The Main Event Sports Bar & Restaurant in Plainview and created by customInk.com.
You may recall that we created “Captain’s T-shirts” for us, The Freds, and Nicole. All t-shirts had hand-sewn baseball patches on the sleeves and last names on the back. Fred #2 and Lisa wore gray t-shirts, the primary color for the Oral Cancer Foundation whereas Fred #1 and Serena wore navy blue for the Sean Kimerling Testicular Cancer Foundation.
Our last names were in the color yellow, since yellow is shared by both foundations. The numbers on the backs of the t-shirts represent The Freds’ diagnosis years.
Since Nicole walked in support of her husband, Angelo, who’d been diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2004, she wore the colors of Sean Kimerling. To make her shirt a little different from ours, we created a yellow t-shirt with navy blue lettering on the back. On her back was the numbers “04.” Baby Giannakakis wore a specially made white onesie with the “We Walk for Fred” logo on the front.
Once the registration table was complete, we left The Freds in charge while we set up the trail markers.
Since we’d been without rain for a few straight weeks, the dirt was as hard as cement. We were forced to hammer the sticks into the ground.
Sometimes we were successful…
…at other times, we were forced to be creative:
The day was brutally hot and oppressively humid, which is atypical for June. Despite the weather, our walkers seemed pretty upbeat and excited.
In this photo: Jared Ahne, Fred Ahne, Serena Ahne, the Zorbo family, Roberta Hirsch, Kristy Morgan, Margaret Leone, Fred Leone, & Wendy Schack
In this photo: Kristy Morgan, Fred Leone, Lisa Leone, & Margaret Leone
In this photo: Jared Ahne, Fred Ahne, & Serena Ahne
In this photo: Kristen Sliasky, Sarah Einsidler, & Drew Kane
In this photo: Amy DeVito, Sandy Einsidler, Sarah Einsidler, & Max DeVito

Max walked with his sister, mother, grandmother, Aunt Sarah, and friends of Sarah’s in memory of his grandfather, Barry Einsidler, who’d been diagnosed with Oral Cancer in 2004.
Mamadukes and Mama L. volunteered to stand at predetermined posts on the trail to help guide the walkers to the finish line. Once they reached their designated spots, we were ready to get this show on the road. Fred #1 couldn’t walk due to a recent surgery on his spine, therefore he and Lisa stayed at the registration table in case any latecomers arrived and to solicit support from other park-goers. Before kicking off the event, we took a group photo (in retrospect, we should’ve done this before Mamadukes and Mama L. reported for duty).
In this photo: Drew Kane, Max DeVito, Sandy Einsidler, Amy DeVito, Nicole Giannakakis, Wendy, Schack, Sarah Einsidler, Kristen Sliasky, Kristy Morgan, Fred Leone, Lisa Leone, Artie Tergesen, Jared Ahne, Serena Ahne, Fred Ahne, Roberta Hirsch, Vita Zorbo, Nick Zorbo, Joe Zorbo, Charlie Zorbo, & Kaitlin Hoffman.

Serena led our little ducklings on their way. Fred #2 accompanied her.
In this photo: The Zorbo family, Serena Ahne, Roberta Hirsch, Wendy Schack, Kaitlin Hoffman, & Artie Tergesen

After a few feet, however, the ducklings began to make their own way and walk (or in some cases, run) at their own pace.
In this photo: Nicole Giannakakis, Kaitlin Hoffman, Kristy Morgan, & Fred Leone
In this photo: Kristen Sliasky, Sandy Einsidler, Jared Ahne, Drew Kane, Amy DeVito, & Sarah Einsidler

Brother brought up the rear, ensuring that no walkers got left behind! He also collected the Moms as he passed their designated posts.

In this photo: The Zorbo Family

Kaitlin Hoffman walked in memory of her brother, Peter Hoffman, who’d been diagnosed with oral cancer in 2008. Her fiancĂ©, Mike Caruso, was kind enough to photograph the entire event for us. Majority of the pictures you see on Facebook and in this post were taken by him.

In this photo: Max DeVito, Drew Kane, Amy DeVito, & Sarah Einsidler
In this photo: Nicole Giannakakis, Kristy Morgan, & Fred Leone

The Moms ended the race, whie Brother carried their chairs back to base.
Once the race drew to a close, we decided to count what we made in donations, registration fees, and purchases.
We ended up hitting $2,300 total!
Lisa made sure to update our thermometer. Mike encouraged her to get a little crazy.
Post Event Details: We decided to accept donations until July 1st just in case we had any stragglers. The gamble paid off. We ended with a total of $2,400, exceeding our goal by $400! Nicole’s Avon event raised a total of $40.26

With the financial backing and assistance from Mary Gerolimatos (aka: Mamadukes), we’re working toward filing for non-profit status in hopes that it will generate more interest and support for Fred K’s Cancer. We look forward to our 2011 event and will keep you posted!

To view more photos of the event, check out the Fred K’s Cancer Facebook page.

Edit (8/8/10): We incorrectly stated that Barry Einsidler had been diagnosed with Oral Cancer in 2008. The actual year of his diagnosis was 2004 and we've corrected this mistake. We apologize for the mix-up!

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Thanks for Your Support!

We'd like to thank the following people for their contributions:

Linda Judice
John Sage
Rick Sepe