Our Story-
The Gleason Family
"We Run to Save Lives"
Our Story: A Story of Never Giving Up!
(Pictured Our Son Braeden at 5 1/2 months old 2 days after surgery)
Mission Statement:
To help ALL Children in Need. We want to help parents of sick children gain more education and help them through the process. In time we want to be set up to raise money for the needing families around.
Our Motto: "We Run 4 Life?"
What Lead us to this website?
I guess I would say years of hard work and dedication to our children. We also have started to live a simple life. Many feel they need more and more possessions while others struggle to get by. Hey it's the way of the world. Though there are families out there that need the help. That is why we are here! We organize and run marathons to raise money for the children of our community. We are not an official non-profit due to we can't afford the costs so we employ the folks at firstgiving to take and send donations directly to our charity of choice. Our current fundraiser for Golisano Syracuse is currently closed! Thank You to all that donated!
Kaylei
6 years ago our daughter was born with a rare kidney disease. She was ill and hospitalized on 3 different occasions in the first year of her life. I remember spending her first Easter in the hospital. I still remember sleeping at the hospital and going to work hours later. It is a feeling I will never forget.
At age two we were still giving Kaylei, 3 liquid sodium shots a day. We spent the first two years at University Hospital. Then about a month later the symptoms disappeared. It just vanished. I felt our worries were finally over.
Braeden
Then along comes Braeden. Breaden appeared to be fine at first until about 2 months; they noticed his soft spot was closed. He also had a misshapen anterior fontanel. We panicked. They mentioned surgery and we had no idea what to expect, seeing we saw cases where some children had forms of brain damage and delays even after surgery. He also had a calcium issue where he had the startings of teeth at only 3 months old.
Braeden truly is a Godsend. He was supposed to be in the hospital for 14 days and was out on the morning of the 8th day. He really is a hard worker and today is such a wonderful little boy. The doctors recently said he won't need any more childhood surgery and may need a cosmetic surgery maybe in the late teen years. I will admit the years will burn you out after two issues like these and at times they give you issues of your own. You just have to stay true to yourself and forget about what everyone else says and at times get what support you can.
It was nice to get back to friends and family after we sold our house and everything we had to move to Maryland to get our son to Johns Hopkins Hospital. Read more about details of Braedens initial condition at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craniosynostosis
Our Road
My wife also had a long road. My wife had cancer surgery after Braeden was born. It was local to ovarian cancer. She has come along way and is currently a Girl Scout Troop Leader in Auburn, NY. She is very active with the Girl Scouts and raising money for the girls field trips!
My road has been long as well. Running never felt possible for me. I had arthroscopic knee surgery as a senior in high school. I had a left knee scope in 1996 and another reset procedure in the hospital in 2006. I like to use those things to keep pushing ahead. I faced my demons of alcohol problems when my daughter was born and I have never looked back! My life came complete when I realized how much I truly enjoyed being a father. I spend all of my spare time with my children and have begun running to help other children just like ours!!!
Where are we today as of 07/09/2008 My Editorial
I can't thank you all enough for your help this year! We fell very short of our fundraising goal, but we look forward to next year! Looking back, I still say that 2007 was an incredible year. I never thought I would see my children in a fun run and a year where I won my first ever race. We got to meet so many great people and go to great places. Kaylei was an inspiration in eclipsing that 500 books goal. Her determination inspired me to keep moving ahead. We are finally clear of our car accident that happened three weeks before Christmas. It was just another hurdle for us to jump over. We have shown that with hard work and determination that you can truly accomplish anything that you set your heart and mind to! In the words of the late Jimmy Valvano, "Don't Give Up, Don't Ever Give Up! That is exactly what we have done! Never Give Up!
Finishline picture at our first ever organized run to University Hospital in Syracuse,NY. The course was 26+ miles through 3000ft elevation changes. We are going to continue to run for the children every year!
Please Help Us: If anyone would like to help sponsor any of the free events that we put together you may reach us at home at 315-252-7012 , Cell 315-515-8320 or by email at run_for_life@verizon.net We have put our idea of being an official non-profit status on hold and we are emplying firstgiving.com to help us in that area.
Thank You to All:
Please donate at http://www.firstgiving.com/golisanosyracuse
We would also like to thank the many doctors who helped these small wonders on the road to just sit where the rest of the kids sit! Thank you to all the family and friends that helped support us and are helping me be the driving force behind this website today.
Braeden and Kaylei Today!!!!
Kaylei Age 7 the week she finished reading 500 books in 4 months. A goal set to earn a Nintendo Ds for Christmas!
Braeden at Age 4 Finishing his first ever fun run at the Alyssa's Run in October 2007! Proceeds went to the Pediatric Oncology unit at University Hospital in Syracuse, NY!