Everyone has a story to share. Your voice. Your experiences. Your memories. They are uniquely yours and yet they have the power to build bridges, forge friendships and show others they are not alone.

For this year’s Summer Jam Virtual 5K Your Way, we are encouraging everyone to share their story of why they are participating in this year’s event.

Below is one team captain’s story:

 

Why I Run.

Jaimi Julian Thompson (middle) with her brother Jeff (right).

For all of you who have stood with my brother, Jeff Julian, and #TEAMjeff the past five plus years, you know we have so much to celebrate and be grateful for this year. In January 2020, Jeff passed the five-year mark of surviving and thriving with stage 4 lung cancer.

You also know that the Addario Lung Cancer Foundation, now GO2 for Lung Cancer, has been with Jeff every step of his journey. Their fierce commitment on behalf of lung cancer patients around the globe is, quite simply, unparalleled.

Many advances have been made in the last five years, yet there is still so far to go. In January of 2015, after much research and many meetings, Jeff chose a clinical trial, a combination of immunotherapy drugs, as his first line of treatment. Just last week, over five years later, the FDA officially approved this combination as a treatment for non-small cell lung cancer. During that same five years the lung cancer community lost many. Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer for both men and women. While we are working hard to close the gap, it remains underfunded and underrepresented relative to the high rates of prevalence, morbidity, and mortality.

Jeff has unwaveringly contributed his voice and his efforts to this fight each and every year.  Many of you have joined Jeff and our family, contributing with your support and participation over the years and it has meant the world to us.

On June 20th, #TEAMjeff will be participating in the GO2 Foundation Summer Jam Virtual ‘5K Your Way’ to raise funding and awareness for lung cancer. While in the past these events have been in person, these times of social distancing have created the opportunity for the virtual event format. The upside to this format is that we are no longer bound by geographic barriers for participation! So, to celebrate the five year milestone and give back as much as possible to this fight, our goal is to get as many states represented in #TEAMjeff as possible.

Additionally, the event is called Summer Jam 2020, or “5K Your Way”… meaning you can walk, run, do yoga, have a dance party or any other activity you choose as your venue!  How fun is that!

We would love to have you support GO2 for Lung Cancer by contributing to our fundraiser, but even more we would love for you to join our team yourself and represent your state for #TEAMjeff.  Any way you can participate, even sharing this page (or your page) with your family and friends, will help greatly. The funds we raise will advance GO2 for Lung Cancer’s mission to transform survivorship by improving the lives of those vulnerable, at risk, and diagnosed with lung cancer.

The GO2 for Lung Cancer is the ‘go-to’ global force serving and advocating for the needs of the entire lung cancer community.

So please join us online for the event! Don’t miss this day of family fun as we come together virtually from our homes to raise funding and awareness to transform survivorship and save lives.

#GO2summerjam2020 #BeatLungCancer

With love and gratitude,

Jaimi Julian Thompson

 

Join Jaimi for this year’s Summer Jam Virtual 5K Your Way on Saturday, June 20th and share your “why” on the event Honor Wall.

This virtual event is an opportunity to unite with others across the country on one day to raise awareness and funding to end lung cancer. Register today!