Give Forward - Striving for Julia

Striving for Julia

$3,298 raised of $40,000

A friend of mine from Alabama is involved in helping a friend of his raise money for the little girl pictured here.
Julia is fighting cancer but her family doesn't have all the necessary money to make ends meet.

Please read below and if you are feeling generous, please donate.

Thanks,
Clayton

My name is Mike Minton and I live in Brooks, KY. I personally am not a cyclist, but I am writing with a huge request.

I have been designated a de facto fundraiser for a little 7 year-old girl named Julia Warren who is bravely battling stage-3 sarcoma, which is a rare and aggressive form of soft tissue cancer. She is currently undergoing treatment at Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore, MD., to include chemotherapy, radiation, and eventually surgery.

She and her family are staying there from Tennessee, and they started this journey with a total savings of $3,000.00. They are being housed at a place close to the hospital called Hope for Tomorrow, at the cost of $20.00/day. The plan was for the family to originally stay in Baltimore for 6 months of chemo, but with addition of radiation, they are looking at a 9 month stay now. They have been there since late March.

While there have been a number of fundraising efforts, we’ve barely made a dent in the expected out-of-pocket costs, which are expected to be up to or above $120,000.00. That’s where this letter comes in.

Julia is being raised by her grandparents, Leigh Ann (YaYa) and David Eddy. I went to college with Leigh Ann back in the 90’s, so that’s my connection. Anyway, her grandpa David is friends with a man in Hoover, AL, who owns a cycling shop called Bike Link, and a deputy Sheriff in Jefferson County, AL, Christopher Wilson.

These guys are both dedicated cyclists, and have come up with the idea of having a fundraising ride for Julia which has been temporarily dubbed “Julia’s Century,” in which they will raise funds via dollars-per-mile and registration fees. They are still working out the details at this time.

That gave me the idea, though, of a possible nationwide ride for Julia which could help cover some of the out-of-pocket expenses which this family is facing during these tumultuous times. I wanted to see if there might be an expected interest in your community to help this child through holding such an event.

If you would like to learn more about Julia, there is a Facebook community called Striving for Julia at: https://www.facebook.com/StrivingForJulia?fref=ts, and also an online fundraising page at: https://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/xc72/strivingforjulia. You can read much more about Julia there, and keep up with her progress as well.

This is obviously still in the planning stage, but I think it would be a great way to help this little girl who deserves the best fighting chance we can give her. If you have any question, please feel free to email me at maminton@iccable.com, or call . I’ll be happy to answer any questions I can. I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Mike Minton