Illona Hartman, born in Haarlem (The Netherlands), is a senior at Ohio University. In the Summer of 2019 (June 16th - August 3rd), she will be traveling with a group of college-aged students on a 49 day, 4,000+ mile run from San Francisco (California) to Baltimore (Maryland) to raise funds and awareness for the Ulman Foundation.

[Dutch] Voor de Nederlandse vertaling verwijs ik u door naar de volgende website: 

https://www.doneeractie.nl/team-leighton-coast-to-coast-4k-for-cancer-run/-4406

What is your connection to the cancer community? 

In September 2017, I saw an advertisement on social media about a “run across America” to fight cancer. This “4K for cancer” run caught my eye so I started the application process. That summer, one of my coworkers at my Dutch internship was very involved in the cancer community and he introduced me to it. For example, I signed up to be a bone marrow donor in honor of his cousin who was going through treatment for leukemia. My coworker and his 10-year old son even biked from one side of the Netherlands towards the most Southern part of our country to raise money and awareness for cancer! I was so impressed by this fundraising event that I wanted to get more involved as well.

Why are you traveling 4,000+ miles this summer with the Ulman Foundation?

During the application process for the “4K for cancer” in October 2017, I heard the devastating news that my own family was about to face: My cousin’s baby of 6 months old was diagnosed with a rare kind of myeloid leukemia. Her name is Leighton Hailey van Leeuwen.

After the news, a rollercoaster of events happened in a short amount of time. In the next six months, I got accepted in the 4K for Cancer with “Team Baltimore 2018”, I presented my cause to many organizations, I started online fundraisers (i.e. Yankee Candle, That’s My Pan), I traveled home to finally meet Leighton, I cut 25cm of my hair as a donation to a wig charity, I raised the minimum fundraising amount of $4500 for the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults in less than three months, and I still organized three big fundraisers in Spring (i.e. Dutch Bake Sale, a Bone Marrow drive, Selling Valentine’s flowers, a Dopper Sale) with the help of many people and organizations at Ohio University. With those last fundraisers, I raised another $3000. In the meantime, Leighton got a bone marrow transplantation herself (transferring stem cells through blood from a donor) and things finally got better for her. My schoolwork and training for the run on top of three hours of daily field hockey practices was going well too; I was in the best shape of my life.

It was in March 2018 when things started to go downhill. In this six month period, I had daily contact with my cousin and family at home, mostly over the messaging app “WhatsApp”. Two weeks after Leighton’s 1st birthday, they wanted to video call so I could see Leighton. She was not doing so well and things got worse real quick. Less than 24 hours after we hung up the phone, I got the devastating news that our little princess lost the battle with this terrible monster called cancer.

This was the drop that made the cup fall: I will run for the people who cannot run (anymore) to give these strong fighters a face and hopefully the opportunity to run again and relive their lives in the near future!

Thus, this "4K Run for Cancer" run will be a great opportunity for me to physically support my family at home (Amsterdam area, the Netherlands) and many others, all the way from Ohio in the United States. Because of my passion for a healthy lifestyle and fitness, I started running races during the Summer of 2017 on top of field hockey workouts. This was when I fell in love with running. I always played field hockey since I was 12 years old, but after 3 concussions in a span of 2.5 years - the most recent in March 2018 which required me to move the 4K run to June 2019 instead of 2018 - it will be a hard transition to get back on the turf this season. For this reason I received a  medical disqualification status as of August 2018. However, this doesn't stop me from participating in the 4K for cancer 2019!  Hopefully, I will be able to start running and working out again soon. This should bring me back in shape for the "4K for Cancer" and hopefully a competitive field hockey game in the (near) future. After all, it will still be an amazing opportunity for me to use my athletic abilities this summer to raise money for cancer, share Leighton's story, and help others while exploring the US after graduation. I am excited to share this journey with you!

How can we support you?

Any small donation will be a little baby step towards my $10,000 personal goal. Since I was supposed to run in 2018, I would like to raise twice the minimum amount of $4,500 before I start our run in the summer of 2019. During the run, I hope to raise another thousand to get to the magic 5 digits to help the 70,000 (five digits) of young adults who get diagnosed with cancer each year. Your generous donations therefore allow me to help American communities affected by cancer and to share the story of my little baby cousin Leighton Hailey.

Donations can be online or via check written out to "4K for Cancer" ("Illona Hartman" mentioned in "memo") and send to: 

UCF Office 

Attn: 4K for Cancer

1215 E Fort Ave, Ste 104

Baltimore, MD 21230

More current news and/or information on fundraising and sponsoring my run will follow in the next couple of weeks by the use of my new "4K for Cancer" Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram acount. 

[Dutch] Voor de Nederlandse donateurs onder ons die liever geen credit card of cheque gebruiken, heb ik ook een Nederlandse inzamelingsactie gestart. U kunt een bepaald bedrag overmaken naar onderstaande website via Ideal of Pay Pal. Dit bedrag zal maandelijkse op mijn rekening worden gestort. Maandelijks zal ik deze donaties met mijn eigen credit card doneren aan het Ulman kankerfonds om dichter bij mijn minimumbedrag van $4500 of persoonlijk streefbedrag van $10,000 te komen: 

Nederlandse donaties met Ideal

#teamleighton #4kforcancer

2019 marks the 18th year of the 4K for Cancer sending young adults on journeys across the country in an effort to inspire hope and unite communities in the fight against cancer. The 4K for Cancer is a program of the Ulman Foundation (Ulman). Interested in joining the fight? Apply to be a rider or runner a at www.4kforcancer.org! 

CHALLENGE:

Over 72,000 young adults are diagnosed with cancer every year. Young adults (ages 15-39) face a variety of unique challenges with a cancer diagnosis including fertility preservation, social isolation, lack of insurance, delayed diagnosis, and more. 

SOLUTION:

Ulman Foundation changes lives by creating a community of support for young adults, and their loved ones, impacted by cancer. With your support, Ulman is able to provide free support services and resources for the young adult cancer community including:

Cancer to 5K - a 12-week training program designed to introduce or reintroduce cancer survivors to physical activity.

Patient Navigation - a free program (onsite at cancer centers and remotely through our office) that ensures no young adult ever faces cancer alone. We provide one-on-one support & resources to young adults and their families to help them manage the cancer experience and long-term cancer survival.

Scholarships - a financial assistance program to help young adults continue their education after being affected by cancer through their own diagnosis or the diagnosis of a loved one.

Ulman House - This year Ulman will open a “home away from home” to provide free housing for young adult cancer patients, and their caregivers, in East Baltimore. 

Your donation will help make these programs and our mission possible!