Running for St. ChristoCURES

Since its creation in 2021, the Massey Mile has become a be-loved tradition here at St. Christopher’s. The event brings the community together with the common goal of fighting cancer though the Massey Cancer Center. Furthermore, the cause behind the Massey Mile is much larger than just St. Christopher’s School. It is run by VCU and sponsored by Apex Systems, a division of ASGN Incorporated. Other notable sponsors include Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods, who is also a massive contributor to the cause and sponsors the annual 10k race. For those in the larger Virginia community, runners or walkers can sign up to participate in the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k, which is sponsored by Kroger.

The Massey Mile itself is run by the St. ChristoCURES team, which works through-out the year to get donations and grow the team of student/faculty fundraisers. This group is led by faculty sponsors Ms. Asha Bandal and Mrs. Ginny Turner, along with student co-captains Dougie Boardman ’25, Patteson Branch ’25, Zakary Garcia ’27, Beauford Mathews ’25, Freddie Moring ’27 and Tate Wilson ’25.

All donations go towards the research of cancer and treatments. This research primarily focuses on cancer biology, head and neck cancers, liver cancer and lung cancer. They put particular focus on CAR T-cell therapy, which is an immunotherapy that involves genetically mutating T-cells to more easily detect cancer cells and kill them. In addition to fighting cancer, the Center is working to prevent it. Leading research explores critical mutations in cells that could lead to cancer and prohibit the certain biological center from forming. Liver cancer research at VCU is trying to understand the biology of liver tumors and possible treatments. Advanced treatments for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of liver cancer, is a primary focus for the teams at Massey.

By fundraising, joining the St. ChristoCURES team or running the Massey Mile, you are helping tremendously with the fight against cancer. So many people are grateful for our contributions and support, which we can give through only a fraction of our time. This year the team has raised over $30,000 in donations, capping off their fundraising season with the annual Massey Mile on Tuesday, April 1st.

I urge you to consider getting involved with the cause your-self. By supporting St. ChristoCURES and Massey, you are helping to both advance cancer research on a local and global scale.