Raising money to fight childhood cancer
LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - This picture was taken during half-time at a Texas Tech football game in 2010. That guy on the right is Rylan Reed, who grew to be a very big #74 when he played for the Red Raiders.
He was giving a drink to 11 year old Nick Leslie, who was honored on the field for his fight against cancer. That's what the two had in common. Rylan Reed was a cancer survivor. And today, so is Nick Leslie ... thanks to experimental treatment he received at Texas Tech.
Did you know that Texas Tech is home to the worldwide repository for childhood cancer. That means it houses the storage bank for childhood cancer tissue donated from all over the world. The cancer cell lines and "models" that come from that bank are an important factor in innovative cancer research here in Lubbock to help patients like Nick Leslie. But even beyond Lubbock, that Texas Tech bank is the source of childhood cancer cell lines provided to researchers nationwide and in 15 different countries.
That takes funding.
During the month of September, you can help just by keeping track of how many miles you walk, run or ride a bike. Dr. Patrick Reynolds, Director of the Texas Tech School of Medicine Cancer Center, says "The month of September is National Childhood Cancer month. So during September, they have everyone log their miles via website. Join teams and the teams log the miles together and the goal is collectively across the world to reach a million miles logged during the month. Last year, we raised 800 thousand and we'd like to see a million this year."
There are national corporations standing by to give a dollar a mile for every mile you walk, run or ride. It's actually a double effort. First and foremost, it's a huge fundraising effort to collect a million dollars in the fight against childhood cancer. But it's also a great way to encourage families to get up off the couch and enjoy some exercise for a good cause.
It's supported by the Foundation called "Alex's Lemonade Stand." That was formed after 4 year old Alexandra Scott set up a lemonade stand in Connecticut to raise money to help other kids with cancer. She eventually died from the disease, but the Foundation continues to raise money for cancer research.
Dr. Reynolds and many families fighting cancer are hoping you'll join their team online to log your personal fitness miles this month. The Red Raider cross country team is already on board helping fight cancer while they run for the University. Go to cogcell.org to learn more about this amazing bank at Texas Tech. And if you'd like to register your miles this month, go to http://www.alexslemonade.org/mypage/1144361. That's where you can join the "Cellbusters team." Then, watch the miles you "deposit" bring money back to Lubbock for cancer research at Texas Tech and all over the world!
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