The second annual Mesothelioma Race for Justice 5K was a huge success this year with more participants, raffle prizes, vendors, and money raised! The race was held at the beautiful Half Day Forest Preserve in Vernon Hills on Saturday, September 21st.
Heather Von St. James was this year’s guest speaker, a 14-year survivor of mesothelioma who delivered an incredibly motivating speech on the effect mesothelioma has played in her life. Prior to the event, Heather flew in from Texas where she was receiving her annual check-up from her doctor. We are happy to update that everything went well, and we are so appreciative of the effort Heather made to attend the event.
The benefitting charity was the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (MARF), a charity near-and-dear to Vogelzang Law. MARF is the only nonprofit charity organization dedicated to ending mesothelioma, and the suffering caused by this cancer, by funding research to improve treatment options, providing treatment support and education for patients and their families, and advocating for federal funding for research.
We had 130 sign ups this year and our team raised $15,450 for MARF, which more than doubles the amount raised last year! There were also dozens of raffle prizes available for participants to test their luck, including an official White Sox jersey autographed by Yoan Moncada and a Dyson hair dryer.
We are thankful to all the vendors, sponsors, volunteers, and participants involved who make this race possible. We love having the opportunity to mobilize support from across the country to benefit such a great charity and we look forward to hosting the race on a yearly basis. Lastly, a special shout out to Stefanos Dolomas who took 1st place with a finishing time of 21:34. Congratulations Stefanos!