Fleet Feet Meridian Owner to Walk 14 Hours Straight to Fight Blood Cancer

The Frank Family who owns Fleet Feet inside The Village at Meridian is an amazing force for good in the community, but Brandon's newest challenge is no small feat!

The Power of Small Steps

On March 18th, Fleet Feet owner, Brandon Frank is embarking on a 14 hour run/walk at Kleiner Park behind The Village to help raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's "Man of the Year Campaign."  Man (and Woman) of the Year is a 10 week campaign where community leaders go head to head to see how much money they can raise for LLS.  Each dollar a candidate raises is considered a "vote" for their campaign and the contestant with the most "votes" at the final Gala of Hope is named Man or Woman of the Year.  Past candidates have done everything from hosting St. Patty's Day parties, to Paint Nites or even putting red toilets in their neighbor's yards and offering to remove them for a small donation to their campaign.  The competition is spirited, but the most important part of the campaign is to remember no matter who wins...cancer loses!

To raise money for his campaign, Brandon will walk laps around Kleiner Park from sun up to sun down.  Each lap he makes around the park equals .75 miles and will honor someone who has fought or is currently fighting blood cancer.  He's asking members of the community to pledge an amount for every lap he completes to help raise money for his campaign, to join his team and recruit pledges of your own or simply put on your exercise gear and come out to join him when the miles get tough!

Why the Man and Woman of the Year Campaign is So Important

As a former Woman of the Year candidate, I'm hoping you consider helping Brandon out with such an amazing cause!  It's a cause close to my hear for a few reasons.  In 2010, I lost my great uncle (who was always fascinated by what really went on behind the scenes at a radio station) to Leukemia.  In 2012, the man that's going to be the best man in our wedding lost his step dad to Leukemia as well and it was devastating watching how the disease affected him and his family in those final days.  But what really hit home was a lengthy Facebook post I saw in January 2016. One of my good friends (he's the guy in the picture with me) found out he had Chronic Myeloid Leukemia after his doctor found bleeding on his retinas during a routine eye exam.  He and his wife played a huge role in helping me find the courage to move to Boise right out of college and I hated knowing such an amazing husband and dad was going to have to battle such an ugly disease.  As of February 2017, he's on the way to beating it with the help of a medication that was actually discovered through research funded by an LLS grant.

The work this organization really does change lives of people in our community with those research grants as well as other services for those fighting blood cancers.  Blood cancer is the number one childhood cancer and one of those programs they provide is a transition program to help kids return to school after their treatment.

So are you ready to help one of our amazing community leaders kick cancer's butt on March 18th? Click HERE to learn more about "The Power of Small Steps" walk and make your pledge to Brandon's campaign!