CANCER SUPPORT COMMUNITY UNITED TEAM
$5,000 for our $50,000 goal honoring the NYC Marathon's 50th year
Run with Purpose. Run with Community
Community is stronger than cancer- My Story
That belief fuels everything we do at Cancer Support Community (CSC) and it is what drives Team CSC United to the starting line.
CSC is the largest nonprofit provider of free social and emotional support for people impacted by cancer. Through support groups, educational workshops, navigation services, and healthy lifestyle programs, we help patients, survivors, caregivers, and loved ones feel supported, informed, and connected at every stage of the cancer experience.
Preparing for the NYC Marathon 2026 with the CSC United team- My Story
My name is Lori and on June 22nd, I will be celebrating my 20th Bone Marrow Transplant Anniversary! This is ALL because a stranger in Germany said YES to swabbing and joining the marrow registry early 2006 when I so desperately needed a match.
My journey started out with a hard-to-diagnose disease, T-Cell Lymphoma (Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma), that included five years of chemotherapy and radiation (2001-2006).
I was violently ill from chemo, physically and mentally, and had lost any hope of survival. My doctors were doing their best to keep me comfortable, but my days were limited.
By the grace of God, a perfect 10 out of 10 “match” came online when I so desperately needed it: a young male in Germany (Michael Henkel).
What started as just surviving to raise my son twenty years ago (five years old at the time of diagnosis), turned into doing more LIVING as I moved through Graft vs. Host Disease (GVHD – transplant rejection), then turned into THRIVING and GIVING BACK!
On my darkest day, nearly one year post bone marrow transplant (June 29, 2007), I reached out to Gilda’s Club Quad Cities (Cancer Support Community). I left work in the middle of the day, horribly sick and very depressed, with thoughts of “I can’t live like this” and how to end it. Melissa Wright saved my life that day!!
She immediately met me at GCQC; we talked about the hard times behind me, the hard times in front of me, but more importantly THE GIFT OF LIFE.
I have been recovering from cancer, chemo, radiation, and an allogenic transplant with GVHD complications for twenty years. But every single day, I am thriving!!
Daily, I am mentoring cancer patients, influencing others to join the marrow donor registry (involved with 1,000+ people joining), and advocating for supportive cancer care (https://supportiscare.org/).
Be The Match / NMDP
DoD Salute to Life
DKMS
My work here is not done, and God is not ready for me yet. He gave me the perfect match, in all the ways (not just HLA markers), a career with the U.S. Army (Army Civilian) that I truly love, the opportunity to raise my son (now age 30), a story and voice to tell the world about my doctors, my donors, the U.S. Army, my family, my friends, and my life post cancer and transplant (that includes running!).
I am eager to raise money to support CG/CSC at the NYC Marathon to ensure that that everyone affected by cancer receives the support they need to include emotional, social, and practical support for patients, survivors, caregivers, and families. I know the power this organization has on people and the community - the power to SAVE A LIFE behind diagnosis, beyond disease, beyond doctors and treatment. For all of this, I am running straight into fundraising for GC/CSC.
