There are just so many ways I can help make a difference, and surprisingly, it isn’t always all about me. (I know, I know!)

This year I thought I could best help by supporting Gregory Rutchik. Gregory is campaigning for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Greater Los Angeles Chapter as a Man of the Year 2009 for the Los Angeles.

I’ll admit, I’m a little biased. Not only am I supporting him in his campaign, but I did nominate him as a candidate. (which is why I’ll sneak in a little link for you to donate by clicking here)

During his 9 week campaign (which ends on March 29th) I’ve learned how the Man & Woman of the Year event differs from what we do when cycling for the LLS cause. The MWOY helps two children in each chapter. The Greater Los Angeles chapter has been working with two amazing children, Tyler Cordova and Kelly Delaney.

Watching these two at our most recent event really showed me that personal strength and courage comes from within at any age level. Tyler has certainly learned this, although he has had to learn more than any child should (how many 5 year olds can discuss the differences between prednisone and dexamethasone),

Speaking to Kelly’s mother at this same event, she told me how incredibly grateful she was for the generosity of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and that many strides have been made for cancer research and treatment enabling children like Kelly to return to a normal happy childhood.  I was overwhelmed with emotion when she said “We are eternally grateful for the chance given to Kelly to have her life back”.

I’m not always cycling for a cure, sometimes I am working in other ways to help the LLS’s mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

Recently, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Greater Los Angeles Chapter honored Gregory Rutchik by nominating him as a Man of the Year 2009 for the Los Angeles.

I ask that you join Gregory Rutchik by making a contribution to his LLS fundraising campaign. Each dollar raised counts as one vote and the candidate who gets the most donations is named our local Man or Woman of the Year. As Man of the Year candidate he is raising money in honor of two local patients and truly hope to help make blood cancers a thing of the past.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s mission is an ambitious task and Gregory has taken it on! DONATE to help Gregory Rutchik help children like Tyler Cordova and Kelly Delaney.

Gregory and Kelly

Gregory and Tyler

If you are still thinking joining our Team US Cares (password Kickbutt) for the The Ride to Conquer Cancer, Benefiting The Princess Margaret, June 2008, now is the time to get registered! There are only 100 spots left and Rider registration will close soon.

Ride Guides are standing by to help register any of your friends, co-workers and family members. Call today at (416) 815-RIDE(7433) or register online at: http://conquercancer.ca.

Let’s be clear. You don’t have to be rich to participate in The Ride to Conquer Cancer. And you don’t have to be an athlete. Whether you’re 25 or 75, a fitness freak or couch potato, a banker or barista, you can absolutely do this.

The funds you raise will support critical, breakthrough cancer research at The Princess Margaret, one of the top 5 cancer research hospitals in the world.

We need YOUR help in making a difference. Like all of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives.

Each one of us going to Solvang has a fundraising commitment. The event is less than 2 weeks away and Rachael is $1,800 short of her commitment. Since she stopped working on Saturday’s to be sure she had time for training, she has lost income and now the job, so there is no way for her to make this up before March 8th, the day of the Solvang Century ride.

After 5 months of training it hardly seems right not to help her raise money for all individuals who are battling blood cancers.

Please click to help her and others cross the finish line against this terrible disease.

First in a series of “Reasons to Ride”.  Reason No. 1 is the battle against breast cancer.

Factlet: 3.8 hours of exercise a week decreases your risk of breast cancer by 40%

This little factoid made its way into my knowledge base around the same time I heard of cycling with Team in Training to help raise funds for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I thought, “hey, I can do that” without realizing just how hard it would be to get to 100 miles or that I would fall completely in love with it.

It’s been an eye opening week.

We lost someone that we met through our BNI business group, Phyllis Kaufman. Some time ago, she took a medical leave, and when asked how can we help, she responded that all she really wanted was a call now and then and to be in touch. Her medical leave was brief because you can’t keep a woman like Phyllis down, and she was back at the chapter meetings lickity split.

From time to time, I would call Phyllis, never as much as I should and mostly while I was traveling. Our phone calls were always long and usually had me sitting on the steps with no distractions, because she was so full of energy, I couldn’t miss a beat and still keep up with her. There was never a time when she wasn’t more concerned about me or other people in her life then herself. She knew this eventual end was not who she was to others or herself.

At the same time, I received an email from someone very close to me, that I have only met twice (or was it once?). Trish has been my right hand over at WWB for ten years. We’ve worked virtual side by side in the chatrooms and have shared our family stories, challenges and personalities to each other i the way women do. I’ve never felt Trish was any where other than right here with me – she’s another go getter that makes me, the over achiever, look like a slacker.

Trish is taking an experimental drug trial. She is fortunate enough that the $4,000 medication is free to her during the trial. In typical Trish fashion, she is more concerned that her discomfort during this time will help someone learn enough to provide help to others. She never misses a chance to touch my heart with that big southern heart of hers.

I’ve been thinking about Trish and Phyllis this week, my starfish, and how their lives have made me even more aware that we have so much to do towards making a difference. It’s not just about finding a cure, it is about the day to day issues as these people make their way. The cost of the medication, the support they need and provide,

Join me to provide day to day things like medicine, parking at Children’s Hospital, curing leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, and helping patients and their families.curing leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, and helping patients and their families. Donate now at: http://www.active.com/donate/tntgla/cysbronner

The worst thing anyone ever said to me was the most freeing too, “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life checking every 30 minutes to see if you are OK.”

That totally works for me. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life wondering every 30 minutes if I am OK. I have tons of set backs, we all do, but does that stop us from getting out there and doing? I certainly hope not.

We struggle every day. Each one of us has our issues, mine are no tougher nor no less than anyone else. Its my job to make my way through it all. Somewhere in all of this I found cycling. I found it in hopes of helping others and found that it gave me the clarity to really think, to clear my head out and take myself where I want to go.

As an endurance athlete goes, I suck. As a 46 year old, overweight, Grandma grappling with diabetes and a history of various tumors goes, I rock. In fact, I rock harder than lentils!

My fundraising and training took a hit by my detour to care for my brother, but not my commitment to the cause.

Jack is not only off life support now but we’re looking at moving him to the US where they have different quality of physical therapy and he can recover. This means that I will once again have my weekend’s in a country where people bike, or at least in a country where the rain doesn’t pour down every half hour and flood the streets. Just in time, too – the new training season for Solvang starts on Oct 16th.

My goal is still to raise $5018 (remember that extra eighteen for life!) and I know I can do it with your help. But since I lost $1200 due to the rsvp that TNT placed for me regarding plane and hotel bookings, we’re going to have to work just a little harder.

I promise to get my butt on that bike and cycle for the cure, and then some. Please help support me and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by donating today.

This story paraphrased from The Star Thrower and reprinted in Jim Blasingame’s Small Business is like a Bunch of Bananas really resonated with me and how I view our place in life:

A man was walking along the beach after a storm, and up ahead he could see a stranger coming toward him. The stranger was continually stooping over, picking up something, and tossing it into the ocean. Finally a man could see thousands of tiny starfish the storm had washed up on the beach.
As the two men exchanged greetings, the man commended the stranger for his efforts, but also commented on the futility of such a task. “There must be hundreds of thousands of starfish on this beach. How could one person possibly make a difference?”

Picking up another tiny starfish and tossing it back into the ocean, the stranger answered, “Made a difference to that one, didn’t I”?

My goal is to make a difference in some small way, to the people in my life that have been touched by cancer and the people in others lives.

Richard Rittenhouse
Walt Rittenhouse
Bonefasio Renardo
Jack Green
Toni Green
Vivian Karp
Phyllis Kaufman
Anne Block
Hershey Binder
Andy Ball
Dave Vick
Trish Huffman
Shari Unger
Ami Unger Shilton
Dorothy Nameth
Marjorie Baer

Rachael and myself, these are my starfish. These and others are the reasons I will cycle one hundred miles to help find a cure for Leukemia, Lymphoma and other blood cancers.

Who are your starfish?