Marathoning for Haiti, & Ethan

Haiti. Within several days of the Port-au-Prince earthquake, 50,000 people were dead. One week later, over 200,000 have died. That exceeds 20,000 people per day. The city’s population was 700,000 in 2003. Most die now for lack of food & water, as the city continues to crumble from aftershocks. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

The best way most of us can help is by donating money to charitable organizations that provide relief there.

Ethan. The idea to raise money for philanthropic causes first occurred to me when Ethan, the 5-year-old son of one of my Physician Assistant school classmates, was diagnosed in fall 2009 with neuroblastoma, a rare cancer that affects children. Most patients diagnosed with the disease after age 1 have less than a 20% chance of survival because the disease has metastasized to their liver, lungs, and/or bone. Ethan’s initial bone biopsy was positive for cancer. He has had series of surgeries & chemotherapy. He was originally diagnosed with 95% bone involvement, but after 3 rounds of chemo he is down to 5%. Last week, stem cells were harvested from his bone to start bone marrow transplantation. He is a 5-year-old fighter.

About myself. I’ve been marathoning for eight years, & have achieved all my running goals. 2010 will be my last year of marathoning. I will run Boston in April & the Athens Classic Marathon (commemorating the 2,500th anniversary of the first “marathon”) in October. I will also visit Ethan’s family & run the St. George Marathon in October. I want my final year of marathoning to be for causes greater than myself.

Marathons are 26.2 miles long. I haven’t found a running-affiliated charitable organization raising money for Haiti. But time is critical. Due to the legal complexities of collecting money myself, I’ve decided to ask people to donate $26.20 directly to one of the following charitable organizations.

Haiti & Ethan remind us that others need $26.20 more than we do. Thank you.

* The American Red Cross (www.redcross.org): The leading non-governmental relief effort in Haiti. I have donated $100.
* Partners In Health (www.pih.org/where/Haiti/Haiti.html): Co-founded by Dr. Paul Farmer (the subject of Tracy Kidder’s book, Mountains Beyond Mountains), this organization is devoted to providing medical care to the world’s poorest populations. Dr. Farmer earned his M.D. & Ph.D. in medical anthropology simultaneously at Harvard, basing the latter on research he conducted in Haiti. He was appointed United Nations Deputy Special Envoy to Haiti in August 2009. PIH has ten clinics throughout Haiti outside of Port-au-Prince that are still functioning & will be inundated as earthquake refugees leave the city. I have donated $26.20 to PIH.
* Children’s Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation (www.nbhope.org): The leading charity supporting research to fight this disease. If you would like to donate money to benefit Ethan directly, his parents can be reached via an email link at www.caringbridge.org/visit/ethanmendenhall/mystory (where Ethan’s story is told) or by emailing his dad, Jeromy, at jeromymendenhall@hotmail.com. I have donated $26.20 to CNBF & our class bought Christmas presents for Ethan.

As 2010 unfolds, you can follow my training & marathon experiences at MarathoningForHaiti.blogspot.com.

Thanks again, & Happy 2010!
Jud