Fred K's Cancer June 23, 2012

The 3rd Annual Fred K's Cancer took place at Eisenhower Park, a first for us. A major difference between our registration area at Eisenhower from Cantiague is that there is no protection from the sun, therefore we brought a pop-up tent for registration, which took most of the morning to get set up.

Another huge difference is that the fitness trail at Eisenhower is 3.1 miles, nearly 2 miles longer than the trail our walkers were used to at Cantiague Park. Despite this, our walkers arrived and waited cheerfully for the event to kickoff.

That is, everyone but Baby J. : )

We headed into the day at $2,400. We had just over a month to reach our goal of $4,000.

Constantine Giannakakis, who walks in honor of his father, Angelo, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2004, would be leading the charge.

After a brief pep talk and thank you, the walk was underway.

 

 

Our walkers completed the trek upbeat, if a little bit overheated and tired.

As usual, Fred #2 finished things off like Rocky Balboa. He even did so while carrying Mama Leone's handbag.

After selling more raffle tickets and merchandise, it was time to tabulate our Walk Day total. $607, bring our total up to $3,000!

Before everyone dispersed for the day, we made sure to talk one final picture of all of our supporters.

Post Event Details: We accepted donations for the 2012 event through July 31^st. Immediately following the walk, we continued to receive donations and held an Arbonne Spa Party that raised a total of $100.  On July 31^st, we ended up with a total of $3,600 raised that was split between the Oral Cancer Foundation and the Sean Kimerling Testicular Foundation

To view more photos of the event, check out the event photo album on the Fred K's Cancer Facebook page.

Fred K’s Cancer June 26, 2011

Unlike last year when the air was heavy with humidity, we arrived at Cantiague Park nice and early for set up and were greeted with a beautiful sunny and clear day. Lisa and Fred #2 set up registration…

…while Serena arranged the goodie bags. This year’s goodie bags were extremely special. The New York Mets bags were donated by the Sean Kimerling Testicular Cancer Foundation. The first 15 walkers who registered and paid their registration fee received a New York Mets gym bag. The remainder of the walkers received a New York Mets beach tote. Each bag contained the walker’s walk t-shirt, a bottle of water,  a coupon envelope filled our sponsor’s business cards as well as the business cards of key supporters (Nicole Giannakakis—Avon representative and Fred K’s Cancer Executive Director, Sylvia Nasser—The Fit Fem, Pat Darienzo—Magician Extraordinaire, and Kimberly Konzack-Fazio—Arbonne Representative), a bottle of Avon Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard with SPF 30 donated by Nicole Giannakakis, a Biotene pack that included an oral rinse and toothpaste donated by the Oral Cancer Foundation, Oral Cancer Foundation maroon silicone bracelets donated by the Oral Cancer Foundation, a Traveling Baseball Babes bumper sticker, and assorted printed materials.

Since it was still early and our photographer, Antonio Cruz hadn’t arrived yet, Nicole snapped some photos of the progress.



In this photo: Constantine Giannakakis

 



In this photo: Constantine Giannakakis



At registration, we arranged for Fred K’s Cancer’s Treasurer and Secretary, Mary Gerolimatos (aka: Mamadukes) and Roberta Hirsch, to man the fort during the walk to assist late registrants and sell handmade New York Yankees and New York Mets-colored beaded bracelets, tootsie pops, raffle tickets, and Fred K’s Cancer silicone bracelets.



In this photo: Constantine Giannakakis



The turnout was even better than last year! Over 30 walkers plus lots of kiddies came out to walk in support of the Freds!

Everyone immediately put on their snazzy walk t-shirts. Shirts were created by CustomInk.com (thank you, Stephanie Kerr!) and generously sponsored by Ambelos Construction, The Main Event Restaurant & Sports Bar, Omega Speaker Systems, Sergio Britto Contracting, and Theodoros Papageorgiou, CPA.



In this photo: Sylvia Nasser



A few enthusiastic individuals chose to run the event…



In this photo: Tara Salvati, Kristy Morgan, Lisa Leone, Lauren Wadalavage, Ashley Azzata, and Christine Salerno



…but most of us walked at our own pace. 

In this photo: Sylvia Nasser, Cindy Brown, Tasha Riley, Jessica Topper, Jared Ahne, Pat Darienzo, Lisa Leone, Fred Ahne, Vincent Sordillo, and bringing up the rear, Fred Leone



Fred #2’s wife, Margaret Leone, son-in-law, Mike Morgan, and granddaughter, Sophia Morgan all walk in support of Fred #2.

Sophia is pictured here with Fred #2 just prior to the walk beginning. Fred #2 had been diagnosed with oral cancer in 2003.

Drew Kane, Max Einsidler, and Sarah Einsidler walk in memory of Max’s grandfather and Sarah’s father, Barry Einsidler who’d been diagnosed with oral cancer in 2004.

Sandy Einsidler and Amy DeVito also walk in memory of Sandy’s husband and Amy’s father, Barry.

Jared Ahne and his girlfriend, Jessica Topper (pictured here with Pat Darienzo, Fred Ahne, Jenn Doncer, and Vincent Sordillo) walk in support of Fred #1, who had been diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2008.

Jenn Doncer and her friend, Vincent Sordillo walk in support of Jenn’s father, Michael
Doncer, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in February of this year.

After running the entire trail, Kristy Morgan and Tara Salvati joined the Leones and Morgans in walking for Kristy’s father, Fred #2.  

Maryann Catalano, Lauren Fischer, and Jack Fischer (Shane Fischer pictured in stroller) all also walk in support of Fred #2.

Nicole and her charming son, Constantine walk for Constantine’s father, Angelo Giannakakis, who had been diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2004.

And of course, the reason why we work so hard to make this walk a successful event, The Freds:



In this photo: Fred Ahne, Serena Ahne, Lisa Leone, and Fred Leone

Heading into the walk, we had raised a total of $2,000 with a goal of $3,000. After the walk, it was time to total up the dollars we raised on the day between raffle sales, merchandise sales, and donations. We surpassed our goal by $400!! Sophia and Constantine helped us to color in the thermometer.

Ta da!

Post Event Details: We accepted donations for the 2011 event through July 31^st. Immediately following the walk, we continued to receive donations and held a garage sale in which every single dollar made was donated to Fred K’s Cancer. The garage sale alone made $550! We also received the check from Nicole’s 2^nd Annual Avon Online Fundraising Event. The event exceeded last year’s amount by $100, raising $140! On July 31^st, we ended up with a total of $4,000 raised that was split between the Oral Cancer Foundation and the Sean Kimerling Testicular Foundation.  

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

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 fiancé, 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!