DIPG

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JBT Hockey Shootout – This Saturday!

Join in the family fun at the 7th Annual JBT Hockey Shootout this Saturday January 28th  6:30 PM at the Merrill Fay Ice Arena.

BIG thanks to our New England Wolves, who will take on the Seacoast Spartans, and the ten generous, hard working locals participating in the Not So Mini One-On-One Shootout Competition. The winner of the shootout takes home the JBT Trophy!

Our skaters would appreciate your help with fundraising. Please go to: https://events.thecurestartsnow.org/jbt-shootout/ Every $500 a skater raises gets them one puck in the shootout. Choose a competitor and make your tax deductible donation. Every dollar moves us closer to curing DIPG and finding the homerun cure for pediatric cancer!

Above all, this event is about community. Each year, your love and support fills the hearts of all involved with joy and amazement.

Thank you all.

Together, we are making a difference. Together, we will find the cure.

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8th Annual JBT Regatta – Saturday July 17th

We’re only a month away from the 8th Annual JBT Regatta … It’s very easy to donate, just click on the orange link, scroll down and choose a boat / sailor to support. This link also gives you more information on the day’s events.

All Sailors are being asked to raise money for The Cure Starts Now Foundation  —  The more they collect the greater their advantage on the race course.   Play favorites, go with your gut, throw a dart or just help boost the boats towards the bottom.  

Every year we see Grant Applications that are generating exciting breakthroughs in treatments for DIPG … Our efforts are leading to results. We are making a difference! It’s a collective effort but we’re not finished, we still need your support.    

Thank you for your consideration  —  We appreciate your continued generosity and we’re looking forward to another special day Honoring John. 

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JBT HOCKEY – Sunday Jan. 31st

Hi Friends!

You’re invited to the New England Wolves EHL Elite JBT Hockey Game next Sunday, January 31st at the Laconia Ice Arena at 2:15 PM.

The Wolves have dedicated their 2015-2016 season to John’s memory.  This Sunday they are celebrating this dedication with everyone at a Home Game and we hope you can make it.   A good friend of ours, Andrew Trimble, is the coach of these great young men and he is teaching them more than life’s game on the ice.  We were given the opportunity to meet the team a couple weeks back and were so impressed & humbled with their clear desire to help us raise awareness and research funds for the The Cure Starts Now Foundation.

Admission to the game is $5 for adults and $1 for kids.  The puck drops at 2:15.

Click here for Directions to the Rink

It will be fun for the whole family.  We will have a booth set up with courage.spirit.hope t-shirts for the kids in the stands.  There will be a 50/50 raffle, other give aways and we will accept donations for the Cure Starts Now.

JBT HOCKEY

The Wolves are an amazing team, full of determination and heart.  They represent the courage.spirit.hope that we stand for and we are very thankful for this dedication.

You can read more about all their accomplishments – and incredible season so far – on their WOLVES WEBSITE.  Please check out the New England Wolves EHL Elite Facebook page too – LIKE IT!

See you Sunday at the Rink!

 

If you have any questions or want more details, please email us at thinkjohnbradley@gmail.com.

 

 

 

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Dance, Dance, Dance…. in case you missed it!!

It is safe to say that Jesse will literally do anything to raise awareness and money for a charity that is so close to our hearts.  Our community near and far once again supported us and surrounded us with positive energy and love. We could not do this without you.   It was an amazing night.  We want to congratulate all the other dancers that put their best foot forward to make it such a successful event and a night to remember.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Enjoy The Show!!

JBT Regatta Photos!

Thanks again for all of the support we received at the 2nd Annual JBT Regatta at the Winnipesaukee Yacht Club on June 18th.  We had a huge turnout, not only with the sailors who raced in the Regatta and the 200+ people who came out for the BBQ & Auction, but the dozens of friends and colleagues who sent us incredibly generous donations.  We raised over $45,000 for The Cure Starts Now Foundation!!

A HUGE thank you goes to our great friends, the Milligan’s.  Yesterday’s Milligan Memorial Golf Tournament raised another $14,500 for CSN – as well as $14,500 for the Babcock Scholarship Fund.   INCREDIBLE!!  

Please know that you all are truly a part of something special  —  CSN is a wonderful foundation powered by families that have endured the same heartache that DIPG delivered us  –  We will end this devastating disease, no matter how long it takes!   Please know how appreciative and sincerely thankful we are for your support …  It means the world to us and we are so proud to be making this impact in John’s honor.

1 JBT WYC

 

courage.spirit.hope.

 

 

You don’t want to miss this! DWTCS!

Raise your hand if you are free Friday night.

Ok, we got you covered! Tickets are still available for the Dancing with the Community Stars event, 6:30pm at Interlakes High School in Meredith.

Our friend Kathleen Burke is raising money for our New Hampshire Chapter of The Cure Starts Now Foundation — in John’s memory.

Please go to thinkjohnbradley.com or our youtube video to get a sneak preview of her big routine!. Trust us, this is GOOD!

On the night of November 14th as Kat and other contestants dance like the stars the audience members will cast votes with dollars — Each dollar equals 1 Vote. The more in the audience the better – the dancing team with the most votes will receive 50% of all the money raised (for their charity).

As you can see, Kat is bringing her A game.  We are so thankful and proud of her commitment and support.

You can buy tickets to the event here: Tickets to the Event.

You can see Kat’s donation page here: Donate to the Event.

 

Thanks again everyone!

 

The Cure Starts Now – Help Get The Word Out!

You have probably heard about Lauren Hill, the 19-year-old girl fighting DIPG in Cincinnati.   ESPN did a Tom Rinaldi piece last night, her story was on the Today Show this morning and on all the news programs earlier tonight.  Lauren has selflessly committed her remaining days to giving a voice to all children fighting this horrible condition.  Her idea was to grow awareness and funding for DIPG research through her final NCAA college basketball game  –  She plays for a Division III School and her last game was yesterday … She scored 4 points and there were 20,000 tearing eyes in attendance.  It was special, it was all for Lauren.

Lauren has issued a challenge to all  —  Spin around 5 times and try to make a lay up with your non dominant hand.  This challenge symbolizes what it’s like to have DIPG and try to play as she did on Sunday  —  If you miss, you pay $10 to The Cure Starts Now Foundation.   After you try, you need to challenge 3 – 5 people to do the same.
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Make sure you go to thinkjohnbradley.com to see the YouTube video of us – Jesse and Alison – taking the Challenge!
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This challenge is already growing to a massive level  —  Lebron James has committed to trying it, as well as a couple NFL quarterbacks, national personalities and beyond …. And this is only one week into the challenge. 

 
Lauren and The Cure Starts Now needs your help to help this gain momentum  –  Sooner the better.   Our request is that you do the challenge yourself, make the donation and put it up on Twitter or Facebook to spread the word … #layup4lauren.  This is going to spread like wild fire, which will get us closer to preventing children and their families from enduring the unthinkable reality of DIPG.
 
You can see more at layup4lauren.org and we urge you to watch the ESPN piece at: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=11812922&categoryid=2378529
 
Thanks guys, we appreciate your willingness to help — Together with Lauren, we will make a difference.
 
Jesse & Alison

Running for Judy’s!

Our friend in Memphis, Mark Gorman, is participating in the St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend at the beginning of December (12/6-12/7) to raise money for Judy’s.

Ironically, Mark signed up to do this a week before our stay in Memphis last June.  Living in Memphis he knows the impact that Judy’s has made on so many families and he wants to help and give thanks. During the Marathon Weekend there is a full and half marathon, a 5k, kids marathons, and a family fun walk.  The streets of Memphis are going to be full of HOPE! The goal is to raise $7 Million, and they are more than half way there!

Please check out Gorman’s Memphis run Webpage and support if you can, $50, $25 and even $10 makes a difference, and we have seen first hand the remarkable things that St. Jude does!

Thank you all!

 

An Incredible Evening for the Cure.

The Thompson and Hesko families, along with many others  within the community, came together on October 26th at Gunstock Mountain Resort for an evening in honor of John Bradley.  It was an amazing and memorable evening filled with spirit and hope. . . along with wish flags, auction bidding, dancing, tears, laughter, and moose!  In total this event raised approximately $175,000.00!!!  INCREDIBLE!

The community around us has responded to John’s diagnosis with unbridled support and selfless generosity. The words sincerely appreciative do not express the depth of our thankfulness.  We remain positive, optimistic, and inspired—all thanks to you, the community around us. Your support is accepted with tremendous gratitude and please rest assured that the money raised from this event will be instrumental in helping John—and hundreds of other kids—fight and defeat DIPG. Together we can make a difference. THE CURE STARTS NOW!

All images courtesy of Robin Baron Photography.

A huge thanks goes to Keith and Brooke Desserich co-founders of The Cure Starts Now, for traveling so far and allowing us to greet you with huge hugs and open hearts.   We are so proud to be able to join you on your mission to find the homerun cure.  We also want to thank everyone that played a role in making this event so incredible.   A special thanks goes to all our volunteers who gave so much time and energy.  We are so appreciative to all of you, words can not express what your caring means to us.

Thanks to everyone who celebrated the evening with us, to all of you who donated  and bid and won auction items, and of course to all our wonderful sponsors. Please check out our Upcoming Events page for information on our sponsors and even more photos from the event!

What I did and learned on my summer vacation.

Did you know…

St. Lucia was formed as a result of volcanic activity and is just 27 miles long and 14 miles across.  We went to a volcano. There were mud baths there. We covered ourselves with the stinky mud. I loved it, but Clara did not! We also walked through a rainforest. The tree were really big and beautiful.

Did you know…

The population of St. Lucia is 174,000 people and the capital is Castries. Our resort was just outside Castries. While we were there we met a lot of really nice people. Some that lived on St. Lucia and many that were from all around the world, places like Switzerland, England, Canada, and some that were basically from our backyard in Melrose, MA and New York.

Did you know…

St. Lucia is half in the Caribbean Sea and half in the Atlantic Ocean.  Our beach was on the Caribbean side. We took a trip on a Catamaran boat.  It was really fun, there were huge sails that moved us down the coast. What was even more fun was the dance party (that I started!) on the way home. I met some guys from Canada that taught me how to twerk!   Mom got fourth place in a beer chugging contest, and dad sat out, he decided he would give some of the other guys a chance to win. How thoughtful!

Did you know..

That I am now better at chess than my father. We spend every morning and early evening playing chess on the beach. By the end of the week my Dad really had to try hard to out smart me.  No dice dad!!

Did you know..

That there are alot of honeymooners on St Lucia. I never really noticed until we were having dinner one night and Clara walked very slowly through the resturant chanting at the top of her lungs “Elizabeth pooped” over and over and over again. Mommy, Daddy and I could not stop laughing as all the love birds looked at us.

Did you know…

We spent our days laughing and swimming. We want to really thank Make-a-Wish and everyone for helping me get my summer back. These are memories we will have forever!! The send off at school was so overwhelmingly awesome! A perfect start to my summer and the perfect end to it was getting home to my friends.

All in all we had a BLAST!!  Love you all … Thank you!!!

xoxo JBT