What a difference a year makes. Last year I probably asked you to help support my efforts to raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I put a great deal of effort into that campaign because I knew that approximately $.75 cents of every dollar raised was going towards finding cures and solutions for a series of terrible diseases. It was a rewarding experience and I raised over $30,000 with the help and support from people like you. As a result, I was asked to become Chairman of the 2008 Leukemia Cup Regatta and lead this year's charge to raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I accepted that role with honor but there is now a new urgency to raising funds this year.

This year is different—very different, and I need every one of you to help and provide support. On April 25, 2008, I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, an incurable blood cancer. Yes, I have cancer, and I’ve been in chemotherapy battling this disease with drugs that were funded in part by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (specifically Valcade & Revlimid). “Shocked” is an understatement as to what I felt when the doctor gave me the grave news. I’m 40-years-old and probably one of the most active, physically healthy people you know. I compete in 6-8 triathlons a year, swim 10,000 yards a week, bike 150-200 miles a week, and run 30+ miles a week—not exactly the picture of a cancer patient. Regardless, cancer has hit home and my world has been adjusted permanently. I’m incredibly young to have this disease, have two young boys who need a father, a loving spouse who also has been greatly affected, a growing business, and now the shattered pieces of a future I once thought would become reality. The only thing certain now for me or any other cancer patient is a great deal of uncertainty about topics like remission, relapse, complications and a potential complete response.

Without mincing words, I need your help and here’s how you can help today---It’s simple: the more funds we can raise to develop proactive and effective drugs like Valcade and Revlimid and test effective protocols, the closer we can get to extending the lifespan of people like me and possibly eliminating cancers like Myeloma. These drugs are my first line of defense, and they are keeping me alive today. Without them my prospects would be bleak. Please help me through making direct donations to my 2008 Fund Raising Campaign for the Leukemia Cup Regatta and/or enlisting the help and support of others who can sail in the regatta on October 5th and fund raise for a cause that is now closer to home than ever before. E-mail’s, letters, phone calls and simple conversations can make all the difference in this effort to raise money.

It’s my life on the line now and I need your help in raising $100,000 this year! Yes, I said $100,000. Last year I had over 120 individuals donate to LLS. The way I look at it this year is I need 100 people to dig deep and each donate $1,000. That is a lot of money for some people but for others it’s a couple of dinners out, some new clothes, or a weekend away. Obviously any donation is greatly appreciated but please think big this year. In the big picture of life and death it’s not a lot to sacrifice for a cause like this.