If you are more of a video tutorial person, check out what Sterling Ralph (Jr. Board member of SAA -Atlanta) created to make the process simple to follow.
Category: Fundraising
Fun and Inspiration at SMAC Out Cancer
The fourth annual SMAC Out Cancer Pool Swim was another great success, raising over $84K and counting at the San Mateo Athletic. This year’s swim featured 11 fun events, seven Olympians, and honored multiple heroes in the fight against cancer.
The four-year total raised by SMAC Out Cancer stands at an incredible $296K to fund cancer research at beneficiaries UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute. Congrats to event director Diana Thomas for putting together another great event this year.
The 2016 swim was named in memory of Jim Keller, who lost his battle with cancer in January. Keller was regarded as a brilliant and caring man that was a huge supporter of the San Mateo Athletic Club. He’s pictured here with Olympian Heather Petri in 2015.
The impact of the event was evident when the Olympians got to meet Wills Levy, a young hero that saved his brother’s life with a bone marrow transplant. The incredible and moving story of his younger brother Andrew’s battle with a rare and deadly cancer and unlikely recovery is featured in this emotional New York Times Magazine article. Olympians at the event included: Craig Beardsley, Mike Bruner, Susan Heon Preston, Roque Santos, Glenn Mills, Ellen Estes and Christine Magnuson.
The event features fun events not usually associated with SAA pool swims including an aqua aerobics boot camp, and out-of-water fitness challenge and a dance party. Check out the whole photo library to see all the breathtaking images from the event. If you’re interested in starting a pool swim in your community, learn more here.
SAA on the Scene
Members of the Swim Across America family are active in their communities. SAA on the Scene shares stories from the “dry side” of our events where the SAA mission to make waves to defeat cancer is honored and recognized. Feel free to send submissions for future posts here.
Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT) Discovery Celebration
Harvard Club (New York) – April 14
Greenwich-Stamford co-chairs Michele Graham and Lorrie Lorenz, and SAA Director of Events Craig Beardsley were in attendance to learn how dollars granted to ACGT are defeating cancer.
Swim Across America AYA Lounge One-Year Anniversary Celebration
Moffitt Cancer Center (Tampa) – April 26
SAA – Tampa Event Director Rob Shapiro and committee members Alicia Reyes-Shapiro, Tony Scicchitano, Janice Scicchitano and Olivia Fridgen participated in the one-year anniversary of the Adolescent and Young Adult Lounge opening. We profiled AYA in our lab series profile.
SAA – Long Island Sound Swim Kickoff Event
Larchmont Yacht Club – April 27
The 24th annual Long Island Sound Open Water Swim Kickoff event took place on April 27th. Beneficiary representatives from Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Columbia University Medical Center and Cancer Support Team attended the event. Dr. Jedd Wolchok, MD PhD (of MSK) and Dr. Andrew Kung, MD PhD (of CUMC) spoke at the event sharing breakthroughs being made to defeat cancer in their labs.
Craig Beardsley (SAA Director of Events), Jean Fufidio, Dr. Jedd Wolchok, MD PhD, Dr. Sadna Budhu PhD, Tony Sibio (SAA – LIS chair and event director)
Robyn Gartrell MD, Dr. Andrew Kung, MD PhD, Lucille Winton, Katie Shields, Dr. Jedd Wolchok, MD PhD, Dr. Sadna Budhu PhD, Dr. James Garvin MD PhD, Tony Sibio (SAA – Larchmont chair and event director)
Pool Swims Across America
In Pool Swims Across America, we feature local pool swims that raise awareness for cancer research. If you’re interested in getting your local swim team or pool involved, learn more here.
The Cheshire Pool Swim to Fight Cancer raised $6,400 on April 23 in Cheshire, CT. A big round of applause for high school junior Kevin Erickson for organizing and to the members of the Yale men’s swim team for coming by to participate in the great cause. Great work by everyone that came out to Cheshire Community Pool to make waves to defeat cancer!
The inaugural Belleair Country Club Pool Swim took place on May 1 at Belleair Country Club in Belleair, Fl. The BCC Breakers did a great job hitting their fundraising goal in their first year, raising $4,030 to contribute to the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa!
SAA Tee Time in Central Florida
The first event of the calendar year featuring Swim Across America as an official charity of the 7-Eleven Franchise Owners Association took place on April 6 in Orlando. The weather was beautiful for the 7-Eleven Central Florida Franchise Owners Association Charity Golf Tournament to benefit Swim Across America (Tampa) and Moffitt Cancer Center.
The SAA family was well represented with Craig Beardsley, Craig Cordell (SAA – Tampa), Alison Pease (SAA – Chicago), Olympian Rowdy Gaines, Susan Davis (Nestlé), and Mark Gramlich (Kellogg’s) in attendance. The tournament successfully raised $20,711.00 for the SAA – Tampa which benefits the Tampa Moffitt Cancer Center.
Check Presentation for SAA – San Francisco
On March 14, members of the Swim Across America – San Francisco family took part in a special check presentation at the Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute.
San Francisco Co-Event Directors Susan Helmrich and Anthony DuComb represented Swim Across America along with Olympians Mike Bruner and Heather Petri as they presented a $450,000 check to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals. Dr. Robert Goldsby (UCSF) and Dr. Julie Saba (UCSF Oakland) both spoke at the event and thanked all the SAA swimmers, kayakers, volunteers, olympians and donors for their contributions to defeat pediatric cancer.
Lab Series #1: Moffitt Cancer Center
Your donations allow SAA to provide funding to some of the world’s most renowned cancer institutions. This is the first in a series featuring the SAA LABS that our beneficiaries have named in honor of the efforts of Swim Across America.
This month, we are profiling the Swim Across America Adolescent and Young Adult Lounge at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place in April 2015 (featuring Tampa Bay Open Water Swim Event Director Rob Shapiro, former SAA CEO Janel Jorgensen-McArdle and current SAA CEO Rob Butcher). The SAA AYA Lounge is used by the approximately 100 young adult cancer patients at the hospital every day. Olivia Fridgen, AYA and LATTE Program Coordinator at Moffitt provided this insight.
How has the reception been to the SAA AYA Lounge by patients?
The reception from patients has been amazing. The corkboard wall on the lounge shows patient artwork, the white board has encouragement from patient to patient and the lounge journal has pages and pages of thoughts and inspirational words. It has been a respite for inpatients who need a change of scenery, as a place to spend time with their family and friends who come to visit and a great spot for the AYA (Adolescent and Young Adults) Program to host events and support groups.
Since the SAA AYA Lounge is different from other research-based SAA Labs, what interesting facts can you pass along?
We are the 1st AYA Lounge in Florida, the 3rd in the country. We are also unique because our lounge provides physical space not only for our inpatients but our outpatients as well. Some of the traditional lounges are built in conjunction with inpatient units and therefore are not accessible to outpatients. Another unique mention is that our Moffitt AYA Patients actually designed the entire space – they picked out color schemes, fabrics, flooring and lighting so that we were confident our lounge was hitting the mark and what AYA patients would actually want in a space.
Do patients get treatment in the SAA AYA Lounge?
No, the lounge is a place to get away from the hustle bustle of the hospital life. The Lounge has the latest gaming systems, comfy couches, white boards, board games and art supplies. The inpatient floors of the hospital, where admitted patients would receive treatment, is steps away which provides convenience and access to the lounge.
How much did it cost to build the SAA AYA Lounge?
SAA has donated nearly $140,000 to the AYA program over the years and monies from the 2014 race were specifically designated to the creation of the SAA AYA Lounge.
Does the AYA Group anticipate this to be a trend in hospital systems moving forward?
Yes, organizations like Teen Cancer America are working with AYA Programs across the country to fund and offer physical spaces in hospitals for young cancer patients.
Why is it important for Moffitt and other hospitals to have a lounge for adolescent and young adults?
Adolescent and Young Adult patients feel like they are the only 20- or 30-year-old in the entire hospital. While we know that isn’t true, each patient is seen in their respective clinic (for example, if you have breast cancer you’re seen in the Breast Clinic, if you have Lung Cancer you’re seen in Thoracic, etc.), so they never get the chance to run into one another. The Lounge provides a space where Young Adult cancer patients can actually meet another young person with cancer. Because it’s in a communal space, it’s less awkward, more organic and can reduce the feelings of isolation many AYAs feel, which is important to their psychosocial state of mind and also can create lasting friendships. Many of our patients say that family and friends are extremely supportive, but no one quite “gets it” like another young cancer patient.
How Far Have We Come?
SAA By the Numbers
Shake off the ice and snow- spring is officially upon us and we’ve awoken from the deep freeze! To get everyone back in gear and excited for this year’s schedule of open water events (starting May 4th in Atlanta!!) we figured we’d run some numbers. Haven’t you ever wondered just how far we actually have swum across America at this point?! Let’s find out!!
We went a looooooong way in 2013…
The mileage our swimmers have covered in open-water events alone is impressive. In 2013, we collectively swam 5447.5 miles in open-water events, meaning last year, we swam across America about 1.82 times!
We have swam back and forth a few times…
Unimpressed so far? Not for long! Since our inception, assuming all of our swimmers each swam an average of 1 mile each, we’ve swum across America about 10 times. Yes- 10 times across the country since our first open-water swim!
We’re making an impact…
While the miles we’ve covered alone are cause for celebration, the funds we’ve raised for cancer research deserves its own look. The amount we’ve raised since our first swim is over $50 million, which equals over 2,501,250 pairs of Speedo Vanquisher goggles, 1,001,001 women’s swimsuits or 156,274 pool lane lines.
It’s all thanks to you…
And get this: we’ve had about 30,000 swimmers in our open-water events since our beginning. If we assume equal numbers of American men and women with average wingspans of both genders, this means that holding hands, our Swim Across America family would stretch about 31.84 miles long!
Let’s do it again!
How many times will we make it across America this season? You can help us beat last year’s collective distance and add to our Swim Across America family by registering for a 2014 swim!
Swim Across America 