This year, a trio of sisters raised in Napa has lost their father to prostate cancer while gaining more supporters for a fundraising run they hope will help more men avoid his fate.
Amy Donaldson, Sarah Dunn and Julie Memmott, who founded last September’s Blue Ribbon Run 5K, have announced a sequel, the ZERO Prostate Cancer Run/Walk Napa Valley, scheduled for Sept. 7 at Kennedy Park.
For the first time, the 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) event will receive sponsorship and promotion by ZERO – The End of Prostate Cancer, a Virginia-based nonprofit devoted to fundraising and education to combat the disease, which the American Cancer Society estimates will be diagnosed in about 233,000 American males and cause 29,480 deaths this year.
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The sisters hope to improve participation from the 345 people who took part in their inaugural run. But one man who will not be with them this year is their father, Mark Memmott, who died June 15 at age 61.
Memmott’s eight-year battle with prostate cancer inspired his daughters’ creation of running events to raise money for research, beginning with a monthlong running and donation pledge program in March 2012 and continuing with the Blue Ribbon event the following year.
“He was very proud — amazed at what we’d done,” Donaldson said Wednesday. “Dad always wanted to help even though a lot of time he was too sick to do so. He wanted to find ways to get involved because he thought this was so cool.”
In November, the sisters reached a deal with ZERO to add the Napa run to the nonprofit’s schedule of about 30 events promoting prostate cancer awareness. Local and ZERO organizers say the partnership has boosted contributions even before the 2014 run, from about $18,000 last year to more than $49,900 as of Thursday.
Donaldson said her family aims to collect $75,000 from the Napa run, which this year will add a local sponsorship from Napa Valley Urology Associates and a 200-yard “Superhero Dash for Dads” for children.
Those registering for ZERO-sponsored races receive Web-based tools, including a page for sending Twitter and Facebook announcements, to promote a run and form teams of family and friends to widen the web of donations. ZERO usually seeks a urologist to co-sponsor races bearing its name, including Napa’s, as a way to spread the word about its mission, according to Melissa Kadish, spokeswoman for the nonprofit based in Alexandria, Virginia.
But the experiences of Memmott, Donaldson and Dunn coping with the illness – prostate cancer also killed their grandfather Lorne Memmott in 2003 – gives Napa’s event a special power, Kalish said.
“This was unique because we dealt with a family that was dealing with the disease every single day,” she said Thursday. “It was a compelling story and it was great to see they were doing this for their dad.”
“Our dad was one of the strongest men we ever met,” said Donaldson. “He was such a fighter and we want to continue to fight for him. This is all for him.”