LIVESTRONG Army OC NJ Volunteer: Kelly Fitzpatrick

My name is Kelly Fitzpatrick. I am the sister of a two year testicular cancer survivor Brian Dowd, daughter of a 3 year Melanoma survivor, grand-daughter of a Leukemia patient who we lost last October, Philly Challenge 2 year participant of Team Down One, and 2008 LIVESTRONG Summit delegate.

I am also the mother of a 12 year old son and a soon to be 7 year old daughter who wears her wristband everywhere and tells people about her uncle when they ask her why she wears it. We are a family who Lives Strong. We are not afraid to speak about cancer. We don't let it get in the way of sharing our stories. Our stories can save lives!

I consider myself to be a grassroots fund raiser for the LAF, having experienced our events last year, and taking the LAF training track for it this year. I am already working on two plans for raising funds and awareness for our Local LIVESTRONG Army and I am already looking forward to getting more training as it comes up.

I have never been more involved with anything outside of church like this before and it is the closest feeling of giving back to my community and the global community outside of church for me.

The thing I love most about my work with the LAF is that it doesn't single anyone out. For them it doesn't matter what type of cancer you have, if you’re a spouse, a sibling or a neighbor. If you want to fight cancer as a whole then we must UNITE, we must FIGHT and we must LIVESTRONG.

If someone out there reads this and asks "What can I do?" I would say start by going to the LAF website, then join/create a Local LIVESTRONG Army, make a difference locally, then regionally, then nationally.

One small step by you can make a huge difference in someone else's life. Walk with us.

If you live in Ocean County New Jersey you can join the LIVESTRONG Army Ocean County NJ by emailing livestrongarmyocnj@comcast.net.

LIVESTRONG!

Kelly Fitzpatrick
LIVESTRONG Army Ocean County NJ
http://livestrongarmyoceancounty.blogspot.com/