Sunday, May 7th at seven in the morning, members of Bell’s Rochester office took up the volunteer baton from the Richmond office and ran the second leg of the company’s 2017 community service challenge. Braving 37 degree temperatures and driving rain, the Bell team, along with more than 250 others, met to raise money for MacKenzie Bennett, a six-year-old girl from the area who has a Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), an inoperable brain tumour at the base of her brain. It is a highly aggressive and difficult to treat tumour, but the Bennetts – and their community - are doing everything they can to help save her from this devastating disease.
The community organized a Superhero & Princess 5K Run/Walk – Miles For MacKenzie – to help raise money toward her medical expenses. Racers made their way to the site knowing the minor discomfort of the morning would go a long way toward easing the suffering of MacKenzie and her family.
Kevin Halligan, Kelly Smith, Jason Cady, Christina Dean and Jan Murray donned race t-shirts, bibs, rain gear and even super-hero costumes as the field of runners assembled for the race. The intrepid team shivered and laughed and ran well - Jason won his division with a time of 22: 37, Kevin came in third in his division, and Christina, Kelly, and Jan also had respectable times despite a few daunting uphill stretches.
The race, combined with a fundraiser at McDonalds the night before, brought in more than $25,000. These funds will be used to help pay for MacKenzie’s treatment and cover some of the expenses incurred for travel. (There is currently no approved medical treatment for her condition in the United States, so the family is now traveling to Mexico for experimental treatments that have been successful in other patients with her condition.)
It’s expensive – each treatment cycle costs in excess of $30,000, so the local community is rallying to support this family in need. Bell is proud to be part of this effort, and happy to report that the treatments are already improving MacKenzie’s condition.
Bell is the Mechanical and Plumbing Design-Assist Subcontractor for the Crystal Springs Tower project at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. The project consists of multiple phases of work to enable the tower construction.
