Hello! 

Thank you for visiting my fundraising page for the Steamboat Springs, Colorado marathon on June 4, 2023! I will be running to raise funds for CURE and childhood cancer research in memory of my student, Claire Hernandez, who passed away at the age of four from diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a terminal form of brain cancer. To learn more about #morethan4 and why your donation means the world, please see below.

Gratefully, PJ 

 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

-Philippians 4:13

Each day, 47 children are diagnosed with cancer in the United States, totaling to nearly 17,000 children every year. Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in American children, resulting in the death of approximately 1,800 kids each year.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) – the government agency that is responsible for funding cancer research and education – received an annual budget of $6.9 billion in 2022. With only 4% of federal funding allocated to childhood cancer, $276 million was provided to study all pediatric cancers combined (brain cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, neuroblastoma, bone and tissue, etc.).

While this sounds like a big number, the intricacies and complexities that make cancer research expensive, time consuming, and meticulous, also make this investment insufficient.

Our kiddos deserve #morethan4. It is critical that CURE, and other 501(c)(3) organizations, pour money into research to ensure that science and treatments continue to advance.

Please join me in the fight against childhood cancer in honor of my DIPG warrior and angel, Claire Elizabeth Hernandez (2015-2020).