This summer Team Be The Match presents the Champion Challenge. You can help cure blood cancer just by being more active this summer! With the Champion Challenge, you choose your activity, how much money you want to raise and get friends and family to donate toward your goal. Then rise to the top for the ultimate reward: more lives saved. All dollars fundraised from the Challenge will go to Be The Match® to help add more potential donors to the registry, support patients and families with uninsured costs and fund life-saving research projects.
The activity can be anything from taking the stairs at work to running a 10k, there is no activity too big or too small – just move! Once you know what you want to do, you can create your Team Be The Match fundraising page. Set a fundraising goal and add details about why you want to be a champion for patients. The more funds you raise, the more lives you'll help save. Reach out to everyone you know and ask for their help in fighting blood cancer! Challenge them to take on the Champion Challenge or to give to your efforts. Make sure you connect your Team Be The Match page with your Facebook page and share your progress on all your social channels. Get others excited about helping you become a champion for patients!
Need some inspiration?
Meet Katie Lanza, one of our Be The Match Champions! Katie is the mother to transplant recipient, Nolan, “The Champ.” In 2017, 9-month-old Nolan received a marrow transplant for HLH. Before his transplant, Katie and her family held two marrow drives to register as many people as possible for Nolan and all searching patients. The Lanza family felt the support from Be The Match throughout the entire process and are so thankful Nolan was able to find his match.
Katie began fundraising for Be The Match as she became aware of the costs associated with joining the registry and how Be The Match supports families with uninsured costs. “My husband and I were very fortunate to not have the financial burden of medical bills during Nolan’s transplant. Finances were the last thing on our minds as our son was fighting for his life. I absolutely love that Be The Match supports families and helps ease the financial burden.”
For the Champion Challenge, Katie chose obstacle course racing (OCR) as her physical activity. According to Katie, “OCR requires me to dig deep and pull out the champion inside of me. I spent a year in the hospital with my son, his first year of life, watching him fight with everything he had to survive. He was only a few months old and fighting these “impossible” battles. After his first few hospital stays he quickly earned the nickname, “The Champ.” Nolan inspired me to find the champion inside myself. Last year I had to find the mental and emotional champion within myself. This year I am finding the physical champion inside myself.”
Going into the Team Be The Match Champion Challenge, Katie and her family hope to hit their fundraising goal of $2500 and raise awareness about Be The Match. In the future, she hopes to continue to obstacle course race and at every race represent Team Be The Match and her son, Nolan.
“Being a champion for Be The Match is such an honor! My son’s life was saved because of his transplant, which would not have been possible without the work that has been done by Be The Match. I want to use my passions and talents to save others’ lives.”
Your chance to impact lives
By joining the Champion Challenge this summer, you can make a huge impact on patients with blood cancer. Remember, it doesn’t matter what you choose to do, the most important part is that you are fundraising to save more lives!
