Fighting melanoma every step of the way

Join me in supporting real change. Let’s support good in the world and make a difference. Read my why below. Help us fight melanoma through the Jack H Marston II Cancer Research Fund.

Thank you for considering a donation to Jack’s Fund.

Here’s my “why” for supporting melanoma research…

Life has a clever way of connecting lives. Such was true the day Odise and I met in the Smokey mountains of North Carolina. Odise, coming from thousands of miles away, having been born in Holland and living in Curacao at the time. My trip had been much shorter from the triad region of North Carolina. We immediately knew we were kindred spirits, manifesting a friendship that withstood endless adventures, confections, trips and eventually distance. O, as I fondly called her, was a beautiful soul. Her sharp mind and wit were ever present. Her laughter, infectious, carrying her through the rollercoaster of metastatic melanoma. She was an artist, who used confections to create masterpieces. It must be said, buried underneath the layers of incredible courage and unwavering strength, was a soft hearted woman who loved deeply. Her love for her family and friends was endless like the many rivers she rafted and slops she boarded.

As I reflect on our friendship in the mountains of North Carolina, her journey is reminiscent of the peaks and valleys in which we lived and loved. This is where we can continue to carry this amazing woman with us. Fighting every valley with strength and courage and every peak with humility.

I ask for your support, not for me, but for those, like Odise, fighting this silent killer. This is for you my precious friend to honor your memory on the first year of your passing.

Educate yourself…

If you or someone you know has had spots removed, precancerous cells, or have melanoma, you already know. If you have been fortunate so far, let me explain why Jack’s Fund needs your donation.

• Melanoma is a very serious form of skin cancer. Although accounting for only 4% of total skin cancer cases, it is the leading cause of skin cancer related deaths.
• Melanoma is the second most common cancer for young adults ages 15-29.
• The risk of being diagnosed with melanoma doubles with five or more sunburns at any age, and exposure to tanning beds in youth increases that risk by 75%!
• The risk of developing melanoma is increasing, and most frighteningly, the cases of melanoma amongst young children are on the rise.

Since the risk of melanoma affects or has affected each and every one of us, the work that Jack’s Fund is doing to increase research funding and to develop awareness programs is so important! For more information on the work Jack’s Fund is doing go to www.jacksfund.org.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

$30 = The rates of melanoma have been rising for the last 30 years.

$54 = One person dies every 54 minutes from melanoma.

$100.35 = 100,350 New cases of melanoma will be diagnosed in the US in 2020 (ACS est).

$250 = Free skin screening (average fee charged by dermatologist's offices for a skin screening).

$800 = Melanoma costs over $800 million to treat annually.