Martin Family

Hello everyone!
Spring has arrived, everything is in full bloom, and the pandemic is gone for good!!?? Let's hope so. It is great to see things finally returning to 'normal'. As always, I am sending out my annual request to support a very worthy cause. I am reaching to you and asking you to support the annual Great Strides fundraiser to help find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis (CF). For those of you not familiar with CF, it is the most common killer of children and young adults in the United States today. For the past 30 years my family has participated in the Great Strides walk because a family friend had a daughter with CF. As you may remember, Colleen passed away eight years ago while awaiting a double lung transplant. She was only 23 years old, but Colleen lived a life that made us all proud. We are doing the fundraising again this year in her memory, as well as for all those still bravely fighting the disease. When we started the walk, Colleen’s life expectancy was 19 years. Due to continuing medical advancements, many people with the disease can now expect to live into their 30s, 40s and beyond. The median life expectancy for someone born with CF just reached 50 years!! During the last couple of years there have been huge breakthroughs in CF drug development and research. Incredible progress is being made, but still no cure for everyone afflicted with the disease.

Just for a little background, the CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION (CFF) was established in 1955 to raise money for research to find a cure for CF and to improve the quality of life for the 30,000 children and adults with the disease. Please note that almost 82% of the dollars raised by the CFF are invested in CF science for research, patient advocacy, education and patient care, with 120 care centers nationwide. And virtually every approved CF drug available today was made possible with CFF support, developed as a result of an innovative business model called venture philanthropy.

This year’s walk is on Saturday, May 21st and it is going to be in person. Can you believe it--a real walk!! So c'mon out and join the 'MartinFamily' team at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 20575 Easthampton Plaza in Ashburn, VA. Check-in is at 9:30am, the 5K walk starts at 10:30am, and there will be food and drinks afterwards. Festivities should end by 2pm.

Many of you have supported our efforts in prior years. This year we continue to need your help, as we get closer and closer to a cure for everyone. Last year our team raised over $14K and we had over 100 sponsors. The virtual walks in the Washington area alone last year raised over $700K with a total of $19M raised nationally. This year my goal is to raise at least $10K. We hope to raise over $1M for the Metro DC area. It is our hope that the money raised will quickly lead to exciting scientific discoveries which will eliminate fatal CF lung infections forever.

If you would like to support our cause, We will be accepting your tax deductible donations through May 21st. Checks can be made payable to the CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION and the canceled check will serve as your receipt for tax purposes. If you are sending a check by mail, please send it to my home address at: 4809 Walney Knoll Court, Chantilly, VA 20151.  We will also accept cash, but we don't have any official CF receipts to hand out for tax purposes.

Of course, it is also very easy to donate online or join our team. Just click on the 'Donate To a team member' or 'Join this team'.

I know there are plenty of places to spend your money, but it is good to know you are helping someone in need. I am confident that together our efforts will find a cure very soon, and honor the memory of Colleen’s life. We can add better and more tomorrows for people with CF. Together let’s make CF stand for ‘Cure Found’!

As always, thank you for your consideration and support. And please stay safe and healthy!

Jamie and Beth Martin