Running a Marathon to Help a Friend with Cancer

GiveForward user Michelle Martin was featured on today’s Running Feet Helping Hands blog on ChicagoNow.com. Michelle’s friend and co-worker Lauren was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer in December, so Michelle created a fundraiser on our site to help pay for treatment and recovery. To further support her friend, Michelle (@mkzm) will be running the Chicago Marathon in Lauren’s name.

We think this is so cool, and we’ve actually been noticing over the last few months that more and more of our users seem to be taking this same (physically impressive) approach. Take, for example, the Run For Mike 2010 fundraiser, which recently ended with more than $6,800 in donations, or the Running for Mae fundraiser, which ends later this week but has already surpassed its goal of $1,000.

It really is inspiring to see that so many people are willing to go the extra mile (or 26) for their friends and family.