Hey all! Happy New Year! We are just 9 short weeks from the big race. Training seems to be going well for all of our runners, and tomorrow we will be running 18 miles with the Roadrunners down in Venice.
I'd like to highlight our newest team member, Miss Olivia Fox. She is without a doubt one of the most inspirational humans I've met in my short but fulfilled life. Olivia is a 22 year old model, socialite and osteosarcoma survivor.
Introduced through a family friend, Olivia came to me about a year ago. Having just completed over 50 rounds of chemotherapy and 15 inches of bone removed from her right leg, we met at her father's restaurant in Santa Monica, Fraiche. Olivia was nearly immobile and had very little hair. I couldn't take my eyes off of her, and not because she was the anomaly...but because regardless of her aesthetic deviance, she was still the most gorgeous person in the restaurant. Her glow illuminated how badly she wanted to share her story.
2009 was not an easy year for Olivia. Between recovering emotionally and coming to terms with how her life had suddenly turned, she has had to adjust to the 15 inches of metal now in her right leg as bone replacement. The year ended for Olivia with a follow up surgery to shave part of her right patella and a phone call to me; she was finally ready to use her story to create awareness and raise funds for Concern Foundation.
Olivia is now the newest member of Team Concern. Although she is still in an incredible amount of pain, she has every intention of crossing the finish line of the 5k on March 20th as the warm-up race for the LA Marathon. Training on a daily basis by walking on the treadmill, swimming and using a stationary bike, nothing can stop this girl now.
I have never been humbled by an individual the way Olivia has affected me. She is now prepared to share her story with the public and is proud to attach her name to Concern as the beneficiary of her testimony. Below is a Call-to-Action Olivia and I prepared to attach to her fundraising website as she sets out to reach a $5,000.00 fundraising goal over the next 2 months. We are so proud to have her as part of our team!
On February 25th we will be celebrating Olivia & Team Concern's training progress for the LA Marathon and 5k at Fraiche Restaurant Santa Monica. We hope you will join us for a few celebrity sightings and specialty drink with 100% of the proceeds coming back to Concern Foundation. Check back for more details soon!
Founded in 1968 by 15 couples, Concern Foundation remains one of the most successful grassroots and independent non-profit organizations in Los Angeles. After 42 years of fundraising and funding research, Concern has granted over 550 researchers around the world their start-up funding to fight this disease.
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