Introducing this year’s Team JAF! We have wonderful runners who have joined our team to help (UP)Beat cancer through their determination to tackle 26.2 miles and meet their personal fundraising goals. Thank you for your support and go Team JAF!
MEET THE TEAM
Catherine Beer: This spring, I will run the marathon for the Joe Andruzzi Foundation. Working with JAF will help me reach my goal of serving others by providing the means to gain knowledge. The Foundation concentrates on helping those affected by cancer. I am looking forward to helping an organization that I have a deep passion and interest in, by participating in an activity I simply cannot get enough of: running. I plan to raise at least $5,000 for the Foundation. Help me reach my fundraising goal.
Gina Chupka: I am running a marathon in every state in less than three years and so far, I’ve run 49. (I have done 52 total marathons in my life.) My craziest streak was in 2012, when I ran 24 marathons in 24 states. My goal is to finish my 50th state in the 2013 Boston Marathon. I am honored to run for the Joe Andruzzi Foundation in 2013! I chose to run for JAF because I believe the work it does is incredible. Please know you are supporting an amazing cause by supporting me in running 50 marathons. Help me reach my fundraising goal.
Rich DeSilva: I am honored to represent the Joe Andruzzi Foundation Boston Marathon Team again in 2013. The origins of my interest in JAF lie in my profile picture, taken in 2010 – it is the last time I will ever have a sunburn. Later that December, I was diagnosed with melanoma. I also lost two friends and a work colleague to cancer, just this past year. In addition, several other family members and friends in recent years have entered remission, having recently battled the disease. This cause is near and dear to my heart, as Joe and I are both cancer survivors working to make a difference in people’s lives. My personal fundraising goal is $5,000. Help me reach my fundraising goal.
Melissa Frontino: Whenever I tell people I am running a marathon, inevitably the first words out of their mouths are “Why would you ever want to do that?!” I am tackling the marathon because I want to do something grand to commemorate the life of my cousin Lucy. When she passed away after a 10-year battle with ovarian cancer, I felt like I needed to do something to honor a woman who had taught me so much. I would like to ask for your support to help raise money for the Joe Andruzzi Foundation. Any amount is appreciated, but for a $100 donation I will add the name of someone special to you to my race day shirt, so they can also be celebrated. Help me reach my fundraising goal.
Julie Luistro: I’m running the Boston Marathon AGAIN!! I am very excited and happy to join the Joe Andruzzi Foundation Team again this year! The drive to beat my personal record is always a great motivator to run, but to finish the race knowing I also made a difference in someone’s life is more rewarding. Just know that by donating, you are helping a cancer patient concentrate on beating their illness rather than having to worry about how their mortgage or utility bills will get paid. Help me reach my fundraising goal.
Rebecca McCarthy: This will be my second year running Boston for Team JAF. The cause is such a real and tangible one. I feel like part of the JAF family. Working in research, like I do, it is nice to see an immediate result regarding where funds raised are going. Research can take years to yield results, but paying someone’s bills who is dealing with a family member in the hospital is immediate. As difficult as it can be to balance work, family and running, the reward comes from crossing that finish line and seeing Joe and Jen – knowing you helped so many families. My goal this year is $7,000. Help me reach my fundraising goal.
Margo Pacheco: I am coming out of retirement, dusting off my marathon sneakers and hitting the pavement with a mission. I will run the 2013 Boston marathon for my mother and for every other sister, brother, mother, father and child who has felt helpless because of cancer. This past October, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer a few days before her birthday. She is still in the process of dealing and healing the breast cancer and she is doing an amazing job! There are so many amazing charities to choose from and they truly all make a difference. I have chosen to run for the Joe Andruzzi Foundation because it helps people with cancer and their families when they feel most helpless. My personal goal is $5,000, so please help me and JAF make a difference! Help me reach my fundraising goal.
Stephen Parker: Through the assistance of my wonderful friends, family and co-workers, I hope to reach my fundraising goal of $10,000 to benefit the Joe Andruzzi Foundation. Over the past few years, my wife Jeanne-Marie and I have gotten to know Jen and Joe. We are avid supporters of their Foundation and of all the excellent work they do for those impacted by cancer. This year, I’d like to do my small part to help by running the 2013 Boston Marathon. I see the marathon as a way to force myself to get back into shape, while also supporting a great, great organization. Please help me reach my fundraising goal by supporting this worthy cause. Help me reach my fundraising goal.
Stephen Pecevich: This year, in honor of my disabled daughter Sydni, I will run the 117th Annual Boston Marathon. God willing, this will be the 16th marathon I’ve run for Sydni since her journey through brain cancer began on January 14, 2005, when my 2-month-old baby suffered through her first of 14 brain surgeries. I am so deeply honored to represent the Joe Andruzzi Foundation. The Foundation makes life a little more tolerable for cancer families and patients (cancer families similar to my own family, and patients identical to my angel), who have been unwittingly chosen from above to journey down that “less traveled road.” Speaking as a parent who has and continues to walk that road, I “get it!” I understand first-hand how invaluable and crucial an organization like JAF is to cancer families and patients. Please join me in supporting such an instrumental and valuable cause. My goal this year is to raise $8,000 for this most worthy charitable foundation. Help me reach my fundraising goal.
Dan Picard: This year, I have been asked to run the marathon again. As a Credit Union Kids at Heart runner, the 2012 group raised over $100,000 last year for Children’s Hospital. I think they knew how disappointed I was to not complete the 2012 event! Well…time to start again. Help me reach my fundraising goal.
David Roche: I am honored to run the Boston Marathon for The Joe Andruzzi Foundation. This is my first marathon and I have been working with some amazing people to get in shape for this grueling race! I am very excited to help such a tremendous foundation! I am not sure there is anyone out there who can say they have not been touched by cancer. My mom fought a fierce battle and beat colon cancer back in 1995 and my dad lost his battle in June of 2010 to pancreatic cancer. Cancer has hit my family hard and with your help, we can hit right back by supporting my cause. With your donation, you can help relieve the financial stress for so many families that have to battle this dreaded disease!
Help me reach my fundraising goal.
David Santoro: This will be my 24th straight year running the Boston Marathon. I feel really blessed to have run Boston for so many years and continue to maintain my qualifying standards. I started raising money when I was first asked to run for Dana-Farber back in 1991, before the BAA issued charities numbers. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but it really hit home when my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997. She fought hard, but lost her battle two years later. Only five short years later, we were back at the hospital watching my father-in law succumb to lung cancer. I will continue to run and fundraise as long as my body will carry me across that finish line. Please support my run!
Help me reach my fundraising goal.
Mark Zurlo: On April 15th, I will run the Boston Marathon. It’s going to be a challenge, but with your help, I know I can rise to the occasion! I will run the race for the Joe Andruzzi Foundation, an organization that provides financial and emotional support to cancer patients and their families. My minimum fundraising commitment is $5,000, but I have set an ambitious goal of raising $10,000 by Marathon Monday. And I’ll need your help to get there! Help me reach my fundraising goal.