What makes this two-day fundraiser so neat is getting to share time with kids. Some are as healthy as you and I … some are battling life-threatening diseases ... some have beaten cancer. They ALL enjoy having fun.
At the golf tournament, each "celebrity" teams up with four youngsters to play 18 holes of superball golf. My group was made up of Tyler, Graham, Michael and Kyle. What a day we had! No, we didn't win the tournament, (Erik Cole's team did with a 13 under par score), but we hit some good shots, made some memorable putts and laughed until our sides hurt.
It was a day to put things in perspective.
Hurricanes President Jim Rutherford said he played with a young golfer who last year could barely walk because of cancer. This year, she played nine holes of golf. That's progress that years ago wouldn't happen.
Research has led to hope and given new life to those fighting pediatric cancer. According to the Jimmy V Junior Web site:
Today, nearly 80% of children who get cancer are alive 5 years later. That's UP from 59% in 1975. Doctors are continuing to develop a better understanding of how some types of kids cancers are fundamentally different from the cancers that affect adults.
Since 2002, the Jimmy V Junior Golf Classic has helped raise over $300,000 for pediatric cancer research. At the awards luncheon after our round of golf on Monday, a check for $75,000 was presented to the Duke Children's Hospital. It's that kind of financial backing that will help provide kids with cancer a ray of hope, a cure and a future -- three words that are boldly prominent throughout the
