16th Annual B+ 5k is HERE!
16th Annual B+ 5k
We’re less than a week away from the 16th Annual B+ 5k. We are BACK to our in-person 5k! Pre-registration ends Monday morning, so register now to save time and money. We’re going to have Grotto pizza, UDairy ice cream, Johnnie’s Dog House hot dogs, soft pretzels, snacks, produce…and it’s ALL FREE! Register today and share the fundraising email with all your friends. Even if they don’t donate, you help us spread awareness about childhood cancers. Looking forward to seeing you on Wed evening, June 8th at Salesianum School in Wilmington. If you’re not local, please join us by creating a team and participating virtually. And, free B+ 5k shirts while supplies last.
Featured B+ Hero Families
Today, we helped a single dad of 5 kids. The dad is 75 years old and he manages three farms. His 15 year old son has a brain tumor and they travel 70 miles each way to the hospital. Their beds are infested with bed bugs so the family is living in the basement and blasting the heat in an attempt to kill the bed bugs. They received an estimate from an exterminator and, thanks to you, we’re going to pay to eradicate the bed bugs so the family can re-claim their house…and they can focus more on the life and death battle of the son.
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Another family would like to share their thanks with you:
When our daughter Kate was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 14 we decided not to keep any secrets from her. So when we told her the news she just said ok, what’s next? The doctors explained that due to the tumor’s size and location surgery wasn’t an option. It was located adjacent to her speech and motor coordination areas in her brain. The plan was to treat it like an adult cancer using a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. The hope was to slow its growth until she got older and was eligible for other therapies that she was currently too young for. We decided to get a 2nd opinion in Boston (500+ miles away) to make sure we were doing all we could for her. There the doctors explained they could resect the tumor using an alternative surgery utilizing laser technology (LITT). When we asked Kate what were her thoughts she didn’t even hesitate. “Let’s get it out!” So on Dec 14th 2021 she had her surgery. Amazingly, and with an army of people praying for her, she not only came thru with no side effects to her speech or motor coordination, but she only was in ICU for a day followed by another day or so on the floor. We spent a few more days in Boston but we made it home to open presents on Christmas morning. Her recovery from surgery was so speedy that she was able to resume most activities she participates in like downhill skiing (in February) and playing softball for her high school team (this spring). Although she’ll have to keep on eye on this for the rest of her life, for the time being she’s free to live her life and become the person God wants her to be.
Thank you to the B+ Andrew McDonough Foundation for the generous donation. The surgery and post operative care are considered out of network for our family’s health insurance. We hadn’t fanatically planned for the almost $10,000 out of pocket max for Kate in 2021. Now that it’s a new year, we have new deductibles and new co-pays. The B+ foundation helps offset these unanticipated medical bills. I wish we lived in a world that no child needed financial assistance for medical purposes, but I’m blessed to live in a world that has good people who help meet the needs of others.
B+
Ali & Andrew’s Dad