Racing With Purpose

Race With Us is a non-profit organization that supports cancer fighters, survivors, and their families in three ways. First, they provide care packages to help support them through cancer treatment. Second, they are fundraising to get a cancer sprinter van. This van would provide cancer patients transportation to and from treatment. And third, providing Airbnb vouchers for cancer patients near their treatment center, or to go on a trip. Their eventual goal is to open a cancer retreat center on the Oregon Coast. To learn more about Race With Us, click here to visit their website. 

My name is Sydney, and I support Race With Us because it supports something very close to me. My grandpa passed away from multiple myeloma in 2023. Multiple myeloma is an incurable blood cancer that attacks the bone marrow.

He used to love watching racing and he especially loved the cars with duct tape numbers. I remember that he used to say that it made them seem like they are only out there because they love racing, and were more of an underdog than anyone with the fancy wraps and numbers. That’s why if you ever see me racing my #4 kart, I always have duct tape numbers. 

When I was little, before he got diagnosed, he would take me to Dairy Queen to get ice cream. He would also take me to the zoo. Sometimes we would just hang out at his house and play with my Barbies, or my stuffed animals. Every Christmas, my parents would let me pick out something to get him and even if it wasn’t the best gift, he would still tell me that he loved it. He had this one Christmas decoration that I got for him and he loved. It was Santa in an outhouse. He would open the door and peek his head out, say something, and then close the door. I’m not sure why my grandpa liked it so much, but he always had it sitting on the coffee table in front of him for Christmas. 

I remember once my grandpa got diagnosed, and all the nights that my dad would spend taking care of him. Sometimes I would have something special that I wanted my dad to be at, and he couldn’t come because he had to go take care of my grandpa. Some nights I wouldn’t have my dad at home to tell me goodnight, I would get a FaceTime call instead. My dad was very dedicated to taking care of him, and trying to keep him as healthy as he could be. 

Sometimes I would be at my grandpa's house and he would sleep the whole time. Eventually, he started to skip our family meals, and he would just sleep straight through them. It was hard to see someone who was always so full of life seem so close to the end. I remember seeing him with his oxygen tank. It was so strange to see a machine that was helping him stay alive. When he came to watch gymnastics, he had a portable oxygen tank. When he used to have to go into the doctors, my dad would pick me up and we would drop him off there. Then, we would go to the mall, or Target. It wasn’t very long, but I was able to see my dad and spend time with him. I think it also helped him keep his mind off my grandpa for a little bit. When our time was up, we would go pick him up and take him home. He would sleep the whole day. 

Seeing cancer take his days was very hard to watch. If you want to help people who are experiencing this right now, head over to my Race With Us Ribbon of Hope Campaign and purchase a Ribbon in their honor.