It is after 11 pm and I should be sleeping, but I am not. I got into bed and the spirit moved me to get up and write about a 10 year old hero! Jack Burke. For those of you that read my blog regularly, I have written about him a couple of times. This hero moves me and never ceases to amaze me. As you all know I love to have fun and help people. Well, The Children’s Tumor Foundation has combined those two things. On February 14th there will be lots of people running outside in their underwear to raise money and awareness for Neurofibromatosis. In short, Neurofibromatosis is a genetic disorder and your body can grow tumors everywhere you have a nerve ending. So, people with Neurofibromatosis can and will grow many tumors. Some are visible and some aren’t. Last year, I had the honor of meeting another family in Doylestown whose son Owen has Neurofibromatosis. They are the race directors of the Philly Undie Run.
I am proud to say that I am “running” this year! My sister, friends, and colleagues are part of the CureNFwithJack team in Philadelphia. We will be running in our underwear on the 14th! Yes, my dad reads the blog and is just finding out we are doing this. Don’t worry, thermal underwear counts, right!!
So, what is “The Jack Effect?” My goal was to raise at a minimum $250, because you get a VIP open bar. Before I left work, I sent out an e-mail to a few friends. Guess what! In the matter of a half an hour, I had over $400 in donations and in a few more hours I have received another $250. People who have never met Jack are donating because he is just that special. Jack and others are heroes. Thank you to all who have helped! I spoke with Jack’s dad, Jake, tonight and told him I am going to start the #thejackeffect hashtag. You really realize what is important in life when you meet Jack and other’s like him.
Check out the website that one of our friends created for the ten teams around the country running for CureNFwithJack: http://unbouncepages.com/curenfwithjack/
If the spirit moves you to donate, here is my sister’s link (she needs to get to the VIP open bar): http://my.cupids.org/NancyScheidt
In April of 2014, the Front Row Foundation blessed Jack and his family with a Magic Show. I was there and this is my favorite picture for the day. Here is what Jake (Jack’s dad) says about this photo: “Not sure what you see in this photo of Jack from his Front Row Foundation experience. What I see is a moment of pure excitement, joy and wonder. All the things that kids like him should be focused on as they discover who they are in this world. What I see is success. A successful trip that met the goal of all those involved and then some. I see a kid who has forgotten about his tumors, his therapies and his damn chemo. I see a kid thankful for what he is seeing. I see astonishment and wonder. Thanks to all of Jack’s friends and fans near and far who helped make this trip happen. And thank you all who contribute your time, talent and treasure to help us find a cure. #endNF. #curenfwithjack.com”.
Thank you to everyone who has donated to help find a cure so Jack, Owen and others can forget forever about doctors, chemo, and illness.
Travel With Laughter 