Attention all Cars - Daytona here we come

As I like to do on this blog here and there I'd like to highlight a very worth while event and fund raising opportunity.

Recently, in just the past several year the Children's Tumor Foundation (http://www.ctf.org) began to use the 24 Hours of Daytona endurance event as a fundraising vehicle.

Here is how Racing4research works.

A race team donates their vehicle, driver time, and crew  to be run at the 24 hours of Daytona endurance event.  The car competes in the 24 hours of non-stop driving with the goal of raising funds to end  Neurofibromatosis (NF).  Persons pledge per lap or give a flat amount as a donation.  In the past the car has been able to complete over 600 laps.  That is quite the feat as each lap is about 3.52 miles.  So that means they ran the car for over 2100 miles in 24 hours.  Some professional teams can't even finish the event due to a break down or other trouble with the car.

What makes this event special is the fact that almost every year they include the Names of NF Heroes on the vehicle.

It's is becoming so big that I wonder where they will be able to put all the names.  And they still find some room for those that want to advertise on the vehicle as sponsors with all the proceeds going into the fundraising pool.

So what exactly will this money raised be used for?  Well it all goes toward funding the Drug Discovery Initiative (DDI).    This program provides grants to take currently available drugs and see if they can be applied to helping solve some of the symptoms of NF.  In the past they provided funding to a researcher in Germany that found out that Lovastatin promotes bone growth.  Potential useful for all those that suffer from bone deformities as a result of NF.  This lead to further research in places like Australia, and Vanderbilt University.  And the good part is results have to be received in within 6 months so there is a quick turn around on the seed money.  As potential benefits are seen further larger grants can be obtained.

What gets me excited is that a condition like Pseudoarthrosis (improper healing of bone fractures) that afflicts such a small portion of people with NF has been able to get so many advances because of DDI and the money raised by Racing4research.

Those many of the other effect of NF like Learning Disabilities and Tumors are also being researched.

As you read the stories of the many NF Heroes you will see so many challenges to over come - Bone Deformities, Tumors, Hearing Loss, vision issues due to brain tumors and the list goes on.

I'd like to highlight just one of these heroes that daily is dealing with the effects of NF.  Her name is Brenda and she was first diagnosed with Tibial Dysplasia (Psuedoarthrosis) at 9 months of age.  Since then she has been wearing a brace literally daily and has had to have surgery to insert a rod into her leg after breaking it repeatedly.  She is still not out of the woods and constantly faces the risk of a hair line crack or fracture.

So please join with me and donating to find an end to NF.

Here is her personal page - and it needs more donations from good hearted people like you -
http://ctf.kintera.org/r4rp/brendamccool2012




Here are a few of the local race events you can participate in by state.  Most have a raffle or silent auction and plenty of good food.

Arizona - Tuscon
California - LA Area
Nevada - Las Vegas
Utah - Salt Lake

http://ctf.kintera.org/r4rp/brendamccool2012

Together we can get through this and find a cure.

Buaidh - NO - Bas