Holiday Outreach ~ January 11, 2010 - Akron Beacon Journal

~ By Jewell Cardwell

Beautiful bouquets to the Stephen A. Comunale Jr. Family Cancer Foundation for ALL the good works it's doing in the community.

Here is the newest outreach, shared with me by foundation spokesperson Marisa Lamkin:

''The Stephen A. Comunale Jr. Family Cancer Foundation launched its first holiday meal program during the 2009 holiday season and what a success it was! During the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas, we provided holiday meals consisting of a turkey or a ham, a loaf of baked bread, a fresh-baked pie and all the fixings that go with a great holiday meal, to 50 families in Summit County battling cancer. We provided these meals with the help of Great Harvest Bread Co. (in Fairlawn), Hickory Harvest Foods, Hitchcock Fleming & Associates, Hilton Akron/Fairlawn and I.M. Good Snacks, each of which contributed goods or services to this worthy cause.

''Most of the families chosen to receive a meal were referred by local nurses, social workers and other organizations within Summit County that are involved in the day-to-day care of those within these families who are battling cancer. With so many meals being given out, many were hand-delivered by foundation volunteers to families unable to pick up their meals.''

Amanda Comunale, foundation co-founder, noted, ''It was one less thing they needed to worry about during the holidays, considering everything else going on in their lives."

Interested in volunteering or assisting with the 2010 holiday meal campaign? Please contact Marisa at 330-835-5985. To learn more about the foundation, please visit http://www.stephencomunale.org. 

November 18, 2009 ~ By Casey McCluskey

I am one of the fortunate people associated with the Stephen A. Comunale, Jr. Family Cancer Foundation that began with Stephen himself.  I have known Stephen, Amanda and John since we were little kids, running around the neighborhood, playing together and causing all sorts of havoc.  Our families took ski trips together every winter out West where we would blend our families together to get the biggest discount on lift tickets.  I will forever remember Greg Stevens being “my dad” so I could ski for free at Steamboat.  And although we all grew up and went our separate ways, I have always thought of the Comunales as family.  So it was devastating to me when Stephen got sick with cancer and passed away.  To this day, I still shake my head at the whole thing.  

Last year, in the first year of Spin-For Life, I remember thinking what a cool thing it was.  My brother, Connor, and I went to the event, and we rode for a couple hours.  I was inspired by the whole thing and was really proud of the Foundation and what it was doing for people in the community.  It never even crossed my mind that I would be on the opposite side of the road less than a year later.  In June of 2009, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  I turned 30 five days later.  I have no family history of breast cancer. I was so young, and I run eight miles a day.  There was no explanation for this.  But, explanation or not, I had my diagnosis.  I was lucky, though.  I found my cancer early and was able to have a single mastectomy that gave me clear margins, and I found out that no lymph nodes were affected.  I just had to fight through the chemo and I would be done.  When I went to Akron General for my first chemo treatment, I met with a social worker who talked with me about all the different support that was offered in the area.  One of the biggest organizations that this gentleman talked about was the Stephen A. Comunale, Jr. Family Cancer Foundation.  It really put a lump in my throat to hear him talk about this.  It was hard to believe that I could possibly be a patient that would benefit from the Foundation.  I wasn’t supposed to be a patient; I was supposed to be a fundraiser! I was so proud of the Comunale family and everything they have done with the Foundation because I was able to see, first hand, the impact that it had on patients and how much good it could do.  

When Spin-For-Life came around this year, I really wanted to ride.  It was a matter of personal pride for me.  I wanted to show myself that I was still on the side of helping the Foundation grow, but I also felt like I was riding for all the people it helped too.  I felt like I could represent those of us who have gone through cancer and chemo and thank the Foundation for its support.  My brother, Connor, was able to sponsor a bike this year, but because of scheduling conflicts, he wasn’t sure that he would have enough riders for it.  I watched how hard he worked to raise the money and I was going to make sure he had a rider on that bike for every hour.  I had only finished my chemo one week before, but I was going to ride.  I showed up, bald as can be, with a new shirt I had just been given. It said, “Survivor” and had a pink ribbon on it.  It was the perfect riding gear for me.  My brother had two other riders who showed up so I knew there were three hours that needed to be represented on his bike and I was going to do it.  I wasn’t able to ride all out or turn the resistance all the way up or even race to the top of the hill.  It wasn’t about that.  It was just about staying on the bike.  I was not the most impressive rider that day.  I was not the fastest.  I was just honored to be there, staying up on that bike.  After cancer, not everyone gets the opportunity to keep riding.  I was given that opportunity and I will continue to ride, not only for me, but for all those who cannot.

My introduction to the Stephen A. Comunale, Jr. Family Cancer Foundation came in September 2008 when I met Stephen’s brother John on a cycling expedition. A shared passion for the sport and a common interest in health and nutrition quickly forged a lasting friendship. Though cycling made it possible for our paths to cross initially, it was soon apparent that our motivations transcended sport. As our friendship developed, we quickly discovered that cancer has affected both of our lives in very powerful ways.

Although I’m a big supporter of the Stephen Comunale, Jr. Family Cancer Foundation, I was admittedly skeptical about the idea of the Spin-For-Life event.  But having participated in it during its inaugural year, I can tell you that it is nothing short of awesome, as every person I attended with would later attest.  Part of my skepticism stemmed from the fact that (a) I was not a cyclist and (b) I had never even attended a spinning class.  And in all honesty, I had no desire to spend 1 hour, let alone the 3 hours I ended up spending, on a bike in a room full of people I didn't know.  But as I said, I am a big supporter of the Foundation and so I showed up to give my support.  And I am happy I did.  I loved it!! 

If you’re not familiar with the Spin-For-Life event, it takes place at the Hilton on West Market Street in Akron, Ohio, who puts their full staff behind the event.  On the day of the event, the largest conference room in this hotel is filled with an unwieldy amount of stationary spinning class bikes.  Each bike is sponsored by a team and is to be ridden by that team for an entire 6 hours.  A team could be one person who loves to spin more than anything and is adamant about riding the entire 6 hours on her or his own.  Or a team could be a group of people who divide up the time riding on the bike.  I was initially part of a team and agreed to ride 1 of the 6 hours our team would put in.  Each team pays the "donation amount" for its bike and the proceeds go to the Foundation.  Some team members pay their portion of the donation amount individually and some go out and tell people about the event and ask people to make a contribution to sponsor their efforts on the bike for the Foundation.  I did both. The "donation amount" for a bike is really a goal and not an absolute required amount.  Some teams raise a little less and some teams raise a little more.  The point is to raise funds for the Foundation through an event that brings people together and inspires them to work together for a common cause.

September 1, 2009 ~ By Heather Caristo