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Scott Rubenstein (left) smiles with teammate Greg Kiryakakis, who is a two-time survivor of Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Photo provided
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In 2011, there were an estimated 302,800 people living with leukemia in the United States. For Lafayette resident Scott Rubenstein, however, it took one to motivate him to help fight it. That single motivating person was a close family friend and former high school star football athlete, David Freedman, who died in 1987 from Chronic Myelogenous Lymphoma. A graduate from the University of Arizona, Rubenstein is a 35-year-old metal recycling buyer who has joined Team In Training of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the world's largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer that raises money for blood cancer research and support while training athletes to run marathons. Its mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, and myeloma, as well as improve the quality of life of patients and their families.
Rubenstein is training for the 26.2-mile Bank of America Chicago Marathon in October and has pledged to raise a minimum of $2,400 by the marathon date, but his goal is to raise $10,000. As of now, he has raised $6,600. Even though the running makes him anxious, meeting his goal makes him more worried. "It's a lot of money to fundraise, but I have a lot of generous friends," he said. To learn more about Rubenstein's involvement, visit http://pages.teamintraining.org/gba/chicago14/srubenstei.
For more information on LLS, visit www.lls.org. For more information on Team In Training, visit www.teamintraining.org.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA