Dear Friends and Family,

I am writing you to ask you for your support in my efforts to raise money for a very close friend of mine in need. Back in June I received a phone call from one of my oldest and closest friends Hank Israel. To my dismay the news he had to share with me was that his younger sister Meredith (35 years of age) had been diagnosed with breast cancer (soon determined to be Stage 4 metastatic (no cure or remission)). I have been friends with Hank since grade school and his family has always treated me as one of their own having me over on holidays, taking me on family vacations and to this day, they welcome me at all their family events. Through the years, I have also formed a strong friendship with Meredith and have remained close with her as well. This news that Meredith had Breast Cancer was devastating to me.

Meredith is one of the strongest people I know. Although you would never know by looking at her, she has battled health issues her entire life and has always come out on top. The doctors once told her that she would not have children and she proved them wrong as she and Gary are the proud parents of a beautiful two year old girl named Niomi. What’s most amazing to me about Meredith is her will to overcome the things that have been thrown at her. Since being diagnosed in June she has been fiercely determined to only look ahead to what she has to do to beat this horrible disease and, as her motto (K.I.A.– Kick Its Ass) makes clear, that is exactly what she is doing! (check out Mer’s blog here)

Imagine this: Since June Meredith has packed up her home in Miami and moved back to NY to get the best possible treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering. She enrolled her daughter in preschool, organized a reunion with her former company RCA Records, walked in the NYC and Miami Susan G Komen races to benefit breast cancer research and just recently Meredith was invited to share her story in front of over 600 people at the American Airlines/Susan G. Komen “For the Cure” Celebrity Golf event in San Diego, California. If that is not enough she is in the process of looking for a part time job to (keep busy?).

To recap that, she is receiving treatment and raising a family, while adjusting to a life focused on beating cancer AND building awareness for early detection. Since June, Meredith and Gary have raised over $35K dollars for breast cancer research. As I said, she’s one of the strongest people I know.

While watching all this from the sidelines she has not only inspired me but got me thinking what can I do to help Meredith in her fight? The choice was soon obvious. About 8 year’s ago another good friend of mine inspired me to start distance running and I have been hooked on it ever since. With the help of yet another friend I was able to gain entrance to participate in this year’s New York City Marathon on November 1st, and I will run in support of Meredith.
My fundraising idea is a little different…I launched a website at www.Miles4Meredith.org and I am starting a fund that will help Meredith offset some of the medical bills that have already begun to pile up in her fight to Kick Cancers Ass!! She has been so focused on raising money to find the cure, she once again put herself second and didn’t consider her personal medical bills.

In researching Breast Cancer Treatment I discovered that According to a recent survey conducted by USA Today/Kaiser Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health, 33% of cancer patients have trouble paying medical bills and 43 percent report skipping treatments or not filling prescriptions because of the cost. In addition, one in five cancer patients with insurance will use up all or most of their savings during the course of treatment. The statistics are pretty overwhelming and I feel that even if we can raise a little something to get a savings program started in her name it would be well worth the effort.

Please know that I certainly understand the economic crisis that our country is in and I am quite sure that a lot of us, if not all of us, have our own burdens to bear, but if we could get a minimum donation of $10.00 from 100 people it would be $1000.00 in the bank for starters. Maybe you can swing a buck a mile (26.2 miles)? The race is in a few short weeks, so if you are able please head straight to www.miles4meredith.org to contribute and with your help, together we can make a difference in the life of a wonderful young woman and her family as they do battle with breast cancer.

Finally, we could also use all of your help spreading the word (again, the race is almost here!) Please feel free to forward this mail or even better share the link to the site on your Facebook or Twitter accounts.

If you need to reach me directly you can reply to this email or I can be reached at (908) 685-9260.

Best regards,

Tom Bohen

P.S. For those of you who prefer to mail a donation you can mail a check to:

3 Pueblo Trail
Branchburg, NJ 08876

Or email me at: tmbohen@hotmail.com