UPDATE 4: WE DID IT!!! We officially raised the $3000 goal in less than 5 days. I am totally speechless, and hugely humbled by your enthusiasm in pledging support for prostate cancer victims and for my personal case. You have given hope to me and to millions of people across the globe, so thank you!! We still have 50 days of fundraising left, and any money raised now will go directly to my dad's treatment, which will make a huge difference in his life.
UPDATE 3: We are now at $2000, only $1000 more to go! THANK YOU all again so much for your generosity. Your innate kindness is coming out in concrete contributions to the 1/7 of our fellow brothers who will suffer from prostate cancer at some point in their lives. Can we make our goal by the end of the week? Have you already shared with 3 friends who might care about cancer?
UPDATE 2: We raised over half of the $3000 in less than 30 hours, you guys are awesome! Thank you for your support- you are helping people all over the world by supporting an organization which is giving victims and their loved ones information and hope. That's a beautiful thing which I admire in each and every one of you. Can't wait to share more updates with you as we raise the rest!
UPDATE 1: We raised over 10% in the first 10 hours, incredible! Thank you donors, you are the real MVPs! If you haven't already, please share it with 3 people you think care about others!
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Here's the link to the campaign to share with your networks: http://bit.ly/ricksrun2016
Here's a short (less than 2 min) video: https://youtu.be/o9M6McaD8EA
Here's a longer (less than 5 min) video: https://youtu.be/BaOoSnliu24
Thank you to my mom, Avery, Alek, Uncle Don, Uncle Steve, the Yarmarks, Nick, Sara, and everyone else who has already participated in some way or pledged to participate in the campaign.
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Hey guys, for those of you that don't know me, my name is Jordan Sellers. I'm a "fake French" guy who is 25 years old, works in fashion, and cares a lot about people. I was raised to believe that this is what life is all about- in a word: love.
I'm about to run a casual 5 miles this morning. Six months ago, I would never have even conceived of doing such a thing. Even crazier, I'm doing this because, as some of you know, I'm running the NYC marathon in November. *NOV 6* This will be my first marathon. I only started running a little over a month ago, and I initially did not set out with the goal to run the marathon. So why am I doing it?
As some of my closest friends and family know, my Dad had prostate cancer not too long ago. He had his prostate removed, but recently tested a little too high on his PSA levels and is currently undergoing treatment to eliminate any cancer spreading to nearby regions that may be going on. My dad is my biggest hero, and seeing how he has handled this situation has only accentuated that. My dad is the embodiment of one of my favorite Hemingway quotes: "Courage is grace under pressure."
Did you know that 2.9 million men in America are currently living with prostate cancer, roughly equivalent to the population of Chicago? 1 in 7 men will be diagnosed with it at some point in their lives. I know these things because I have to know them, and I learned them by visiting zerocancer.org. That's the organization I'm sponsored by to run the marathon, and I promised them we would raise at least $3000 big ones for funding federal prostate cancer research and raising awareness.
So I'm running this marathon for my dad. (Shhhh, it's a surprise! He doesn't know anything about this yet and won't until he sees this fundraiser!) I'm not a doctor, and I can't be with him every day to help him with side-effects of the treatment or drive him to the hospital, but I know I can do this. And as much as I want all of you to run with me, I know that not everybody can do that. So what can you do in stead? Well, you can donate. Please give, whether it's $5 or $500, you'll be making a big difference for guys like my dad (and guys like me) all over the world.
We'll be doing some things along the way to November as I train for the marathon, and I hope you'll join me on that journey. I'll be posting some more videos here as well as on my social media*@jordsels* with tips on training regimens, "fun" facts on prostate cancer, and some other cool stuff. In the meantime, I hope you'll donate, and support me and my dad's loved ones in supporting him. After all, that's what life is all about. Peace and love.
