2nd Annual Moving for the Cure Recap

TeamCCF sponsored its 2nd Annual Moving for the Cure, July 18 – 24. Families and individuals accepted the challenge to raise at least $200 and perform any physical movement during that week in July.

In the end, the Moving for the Cure participants and sponsors raised more than $96,000! The turnout was amazing! The event had more than 550 participants from 30 states and 12 countries.

Becky Stapleton registered her team, Steve Wilger #L18STRONG, in honor of her dad, Steve, who is battling cholangiocarcinoma. Steve is a retired Cincinnati police lieutenant. His badge number was L-18. The blue family is a huge part of their lives and amazing supporters. Their team won the top team fundraiser with an incredible $18,991.35 raised! Becky said, “In a time where I can’t control what is happening to {my Dad}, I was at least able to put my mind and efforts behind something that I could control.” After a week of daily Peloton classes, and encouraging others to do daily activities, Becky and 300 friends and family gathered Saturday morning for their walk. Steve proudly led the walk with bagpipes, family, and friends next to him.

Heeling Wong and her siblings of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, joined Moving for the Cure for the second year in a row with their team, Team Rising Phoenix. The team focused on promoting awareness this year more than fundraising. While still raising more than $700, the siblings organized 91 friends from 12 countries to move at least 10,000 steps each day over the one-week period. Each member posted photos or videos of their movement on social media and their total number of steps. In all, Team Rising Phoenix walked, hiked, ran, biked, or danced a total of 4,040,323 steps! That is a total of 500 miles!

Briana Couto of Team Joe spearheaded a walk with an estimated 60 participants. All participation was to support her dad, Joe, who was diagnosed with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma last November. Briana explained her dad’s amazing strength. “His life changed overnight since that day in November but he still maintains his spirits, happiness, and faith to continue on,” she said. She continued, “This is our first year doing Moving for the Cure. Those who came to the event included friends, family, church friends, and coworkers. We were all so overwhelmed by the love and support and are grateful to still have my father here.”

Paul Lynch’s dear friend, De, was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma at the end of 2020. Paul learned about the Foundation through a colleague who works with NIH’s Genetic and Rare Disease Information Center. When he visited the CCF website on a Tuesday, he saw that the event started that Sunday. He quickly signed up, organized a walk, and sent out emails to start fundraising. In all, Paul raised $9,681.50! Paul’s walk had nearly 40 participants. The owner of a local restaurant hosted a special luncheon for the walkers after the event and donated a portion of the cost to the fundraiser!

Joanne D’Silva registered her team, Bulla’s Baba’s, in memory of her mom, Blanche (Bulla) D’Silva. The team organized a 5k walk on Saturday morning in Orlando, Fla., with about 28 in-person participants and 20 virtual participants from the US and Canada. The D’Silva family raised $2,288.50! Joanne explained why she chose to participate in the event saying, “I will be forever grateful to CCF for its educational resources particularly as it relates to biomarker testing and the importance of finding doctors who specialize in CC. These resources led me to advocate for Mom to receive a second opinion from a specialist at Moffitt and to switch her care to a GI oncology doc in Orlando who was much more well versed in CC.”

Thank you to all those who participated in Moving for the Cure. You helped us reach people all over the world. We would like to also give a special thanks to our amazing sponsors. Without their support, Moving for the Cure would not be possible.

Incyte – Presenting Sponsor
Taiho Oncology – Gold Level Sponsor
WPS, Health Solutions – Silver Level Sponsor
Giles and Associates, Family Psychology – Bronze Level Sponsor
The Kathy Plouff Memorial Nursing Scholarship – Bronze Level Sponsor

Congratulations to our top fundraisers and winners of our contest:

Fitness Fanatic (did the most fitness) – Becky Stapleton, Team Steve Wilger
Most Creative Costume – Sara Kloosterman, Team Steve Wilger
Largest Corporate Group – WPS Health Solutions
Largest Team/Family – Team Steve Wilger #L18Strong
Most Unique Activity – Anna Weigard
Variety Victor (different types of workouts) – Diana Park, Team Janine
Farthest Participant from CCF headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah – Heeling Wong in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with Team Rising Phoenix.

Plans for next year’s Moving for the Cure are already underway. For sponsorship information, or to help plan the event, please contact meredith@cholangiocarcinoma.org.