Sunday, January 8, 2006

an important letter

My good friend Anna is running the Boston Marathon this year for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Please read her letter and help her raise money for this cause. Thank you!

Hello Friends and Family Members!

I am running the Boston Marathon this spring to raise $3,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. One might think after I drank too much water and almost croaked when I ran the Boston Marathon in 2004, I would never attempt a 26.2 mile race again. Well, if you know me, then you know that just because a thought is logical, it doesn’t mean I’ll follow it. As I see it, I have a score to settle.

More important than any personal vendetta, I have committed myself to raising at least $3000 to support the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in the battle to find a cure for blood related cancers. This is the real score to settle.

Please help me reach my goal of $3000!

*Incentive Alert* If you donate before January 23, 2005, you will
receive a PERSONALIZED HAIKU WRITTEN BY ME!

TO DONATE:
-Online: Anna’s Team in Training Page
-By Check: email Laura for info

I know many of you are not in a position to donate a lot or at all. Please feel free to pass this letter on to anyone you think would be interested in helping this cause.

My friend Laura Meyer lost her father, Lawrence Meyer, to Leukemia when she was a child. I am running the 2006 Boston Marathon in his memory.

I met Laura Meyer three years ago while studying abroad. She was the first person to inspire me to run an endurance race: the Kyoto City Half Marathon. In 2004, Laura and I trained for the Boston Marathon. Laura had told me she always wanted to run the Boston Marathon for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in memory of her father. Unfortunately, we were unable to run the 2004 Boston Marathon for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and so we ran unofficially. Currently, Laura is living in Japan; I have decided to run the Boston Marathon for her.

My desire to help families affected by blood related cancers has been heightened by working as a clinical research assistant with leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. I see patients whose families are struggling because of the severe financial burden of treatment. Treatment requires many long doctors appointments, expensive medications, miles traveled by car, day care for the children, missed days at work and many other expenses that often are not covered by insurance or may require a large co-pay.

Donating to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is a way for you to help improve care for people with blood cancers–from education, to improved treatment, to a cure!

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. Regardless of whether or not you are able contribute, if you have a friend or family member that has been afflicted with a blood cancer and would like me to run in their honor please send me their name to put on our Team in Training posters and banners. I will also put their name on the back of my shirt on April 17, 2006.

Thank you so much!
Anna

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