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'Coast to Coast for Cancer' fundraiser reaches Carbondale
Factoid: To find out more information or to help sponsor the fundraiser, visit the website at www.bikecoasttocoastforcancer.com. To volunteer for the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults, call (410) 964-0202 or email hjohn@ulmanfund.org.
For more than a month now, Stephen Sroka has been making his way across the United States, finding himself in a different city almost every night.
Since Monday night, Sroka, who is an avid cyclist, has been able to call Carbondale his home.
Sroka, 21, who has been staying with Virginia Holt, usually rides for pleasure or in competition, but this time, he has a cause.
He started a 79-day tour June 21 in Annapolis, Md., to raise money for cancer awareness in a fundraiser called "Coast to Coast for Cancer" and will end his tour in Florence, Ore., on Sept. 9.
Sroka, a resident of Baltimore, decided to increase cancer awareness when he found out that two of his friends had been diagnosed with cancer. At 22, John Majoros was diagnosed with testicular cancer and died 10 months later. A short time later, Majoros' younger brother, Matthew, was diagnosed with cancer. After months of intense treatment, Matthew was cured of Hodgkin's disease, only to find a month later that he, too, had testicular cancer. After months of treatment, Matthew is now in remission.
"Matthew and I played lacrosse together for our high school, and we soon developed a team relationship into a friendship," Sroka said. "As cancer was affecting Matthew and his family, I felt a sense of helplessness, as there was not much I could do other than provide care and condolence to the family."
Sroka's feeling of helplessness disappeared when he contacted the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults and created a new fundraiser, "Coast to Coast for Cancer," that will receive all of the proceeds of Sroka's cross-country trip.
The mission of the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults is "to provide support programs, education and resources, free of charge, to benefit young adults, their family and friends, who are affected by cancer, and to promote awareness and prevention of cancer."
Brock Yetso, executive director of Ulman, said that this program is unique from others because it addresses issues that young adults face, such as insurance, fertility and dating.
Yetso said that he has been working with the Majoros family to decide how the money that is raised should be allocated within the program. He said that the family has shown an interest in providing college scholarships to cancer survivors and increasing educational awareness of testicular cancer.
"Right now, we are just short of $15,000," Sroka said. "So we are a little behind schedule financially. Hopefully, momentum will catch up as I go along."
Sroka has received help through sponsorship from a number of different organizations, including Black & Decker, Brave New Markets, Gilden Integrated, Princeton Sports and the Rotary Club of Catonsville-Sunrise.
Chris Jones, executive vice president of Brave New Markets of Owing Mills, Md., said that he found out about Sroka and his cause through a rotary club that was also sponsoring him.
"Brave New Markets is very interested in supporting community efforts," Jones said. "We felt that we could do our best to get the word out about Stephen's efforts.
"We also looked into the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults and felt that it was an important organization, because there are so many outlets of support for older adults and children, but young adults just don't have that."
Gilden Integrated, another of Sroka's sponsors, provided the logo and graphic standards for the website that follows Sroka's trip
"I just felt that this was an important cause," said Jack Gilden, president of Gilden Integrated. "I had a chance to meet Stephen. His generosity of spirit surprised me, and I knew that he would carry through with this."
Three or four weeks after deciding to sponsor Sroka, Gilden was reassured that he had made the right decision when he received a phone call from a college friend who had just been diagnosed with testicular cancer.
Sroka has the support of many organizations and sponsors, so the only thing that he has to focus on is his own determination to continue on his journey. And Sroka is definitely not lacking any of that.
"Even though this was supposed to be a 2 1/2-month tour, it can be extended," Sroka said. "If we haven't reached our goal by the time I get to Oregon, I will keep on going."
Yetso is confident in all of the effort that Sroka has put into this fundraiser.
"Outside of the funding, Stephen has also been an excellent marketing tool for our organization," Yetso said. "He has increased cancer awareness by making his way out to every single community. He started in Maryland, and he has already reached people in Southern Illinois."
