Run for Ryan

It was a normal spring day in June of 2018 when the Anardi family received a call that would change their lives forever. Ryan, an active and healthy 40 year old who regularly went for a run on his lunch break, had Stage 4 Colorectal Cancer, an unimaginable situation for a family with kids in elementary, middle and high school. Ryan has fought through two rounds of chemo and is continuing on a chemo maintenance regimen until his next scan in three months. Treatment is expensive and they are very thankful for good health insurance, but come January the huge deductibles start all over again. 

You have never met a family more deserving of your love and encouragement than Ryan, Jody, and their three exceptional kids - Kaitlyn, Caleb and Brooke. They're the kind of people who value time spent together with family (even if the norovirus passes through 11 of the 17 of us) and have spent countless weekends with friends on softball/baseball fields and at swim meets. They are generous with all that they have (time, love, money, etc.). Through the nightmare they are currently living they are still the same people - fun, thoughtful, helpful and kind. In some ways, nothing has changed (Ryan and Jared put the mustang in the ditch only a few weeks after Ryan bought it - still teenagers at heart!) but in other ways, everything has changed (Ryan sometimes can't even get out of the house because of the side effects from the chemo treatments).

Ryan will continue fighting for as long as it takes for him to say he's a survivor, that he's cancer free. And Jody and the kids will fight with him, because this family fights together. It's a mentally and emotionally exhausting journey that feels so lonely at times. Please run with us on November 30th to show the Anardis how precious they are, that they're an important part of our community, and that we are here to fight with them too.

You are not alone, Ryan and Jody - and we will run (or wheel!) with you for as long as this battle takes!