Support My Marathon. Make a Difference.

What’s your favorite memory as a child? Everybody has one–maybe more than one. 

For me it was going to Bills games. 

My grandparents had season tickets from the time Rich Stadium opened in 1973. When it got later in the season, they had less interest in braving the wind and snow, so I usually got to go to at least one game a year, usually in December. I’d put on about seven layers of clothing, though it didn’t make much of a difference. I was frozen solid by the end of the second quarter. Also, at the time–this would have been 1984, 1985–the Bills were really bad, so it’s not like these were hot tickets.

It didn’t matter. 

My father brought thermoses of hot chocolate and ham sandwiches in Ziploc bags. We would play catch in the parking lot with a blue and red Nerf football that was always missing a couple chunks of Styrofoam. Our seats were on the home side of the field, forty rows up, just above the 32-yard-line. I’d talk to the other folks who sat near us and listened to their stories about the Old Rockpile. My dad would use binoculars to watch plays on the field. He would pass them to me. I looked at Joe Ferguson as he threw and Joe Cribbs as he ran and Fred Smerlas as he jumped offsides (sorry Fred). I’ll never forget it. Going to the game, listening to the radio on the drive to Orchard Park, being at the game, even sitting in traffic after, listening to the post-game show–it was the best thing ever.

Every kid who is a Bills fan should get a chance to watch the team play in person at least once.

This coming season, it’s getting more exciting, for sure, with the Bills opening a brand new stadium, but it’s also, as you can guess, getting a lot more expensive. It’s hard for working families to afford tickets, never mind families dealing with incredibly difficult medical emergencies.

This is why I’m running the Buffalo Marathon in May. 

P.U.N.T., the Pediatric Cancer Collaborative, runs a program called “Andrew’s Gameday,” named after Andrew Pawlak, who was diagnosed with a rare sarcoma when he was 13. Before he passed away at age 15, P.U.N.T. sent Andrew to a game. It’s a memory he and his family never forgot. P.U.N.T has done it for dozens of other kids since.

After I began looking into this, I learned that, on average, pediatric hospitalizations for cancer cost almost five times as much as hospitalization for other pediatric conditions. The average cost of a stay is $40,000. Bills pile up. Wages are lost as a parent must choose between being by their child’s side or going to work. 

P.U.N.T. helps with everything from medical bills to utility bills to transportation. They also, through “Andrew’s Game Day,” get kids battling cancer out to Highmark Stadium on Sunday afternoons. This year, there was a chance the program was going to go away, given the higher cost at the new stadium. No way, I thought! We can’t let that happen.

Now, I don’t know how much of a difference this is going to make, but something is better than nothing, so I hope you’ll consider supporting “Andrew’s Game Day” as we raise money during this year’s Buffalo Marathon. I’m thrilled about this blessing I’ve been given: the chance to bust up my knees for 26.2 miles to make a real difference. I’m thrilled about the possibility of making more dreams come true for kids who deserve their special day.

We’ve all been touched by cancer. This February, my mother-in-law died of thyroid cancer. Not too many years ago, my mentor in television news died of brain cancer. My family doctor’s son was diagnosed with cancer. The unfortunate list goes on and on. When kids get cancer, it presents even more challenges. I’m listening and trying to understand what those are–I hope to help more in the future–but for now, I know what I have to do: run.

That part you don’t have to do (unless you really want to). There are other ways to help. 

I hope you’ll consider it.

-Jeff