Columbia’s Bojorquez Runs For A Reason
She’s Raised Over $6,000 To Fight Cancer
One Columbia resident has raised over $6,000 for cancer research over the past three years.
Her method? The Falmouth Road Race in Cape Cod.
Her motivation? Five close friends and family members who have suffered from the disease and millions more who are fighting for their lives.
Sarah Bojorquez, 26, of Columbia first got involved with the Falmouth Road Race two years ago through her mother.
Bojorquez's mom heard of the race via connections at the 99 Restaurant in Vernon and the 99 Restaurant chain, which had a team of runners called Team Lanzoni.
Team Lanzoni originated over 13 years ago when Dave Lanzoni, 99 Restaurant's vice president of operations, passed away from a battle with lung cancer.
At the funeral, Lanzoni's son spoke of the care Dana-Farber gave his father and inspired Jim Kiley, the current regional vice president of operations at 99 Restaurants, to run the Falmouth Road Race in honor of his late mentor.
“Since then, the team has grown to 100 people who now run Falmouth every year,” said Jason Goodrow, 99 Restaurants director of marketing. “It has grown from something very much within the 99 Restaurant chain to spread throughout New England.”
Given a family history of fighting cancer, Bojorquez's mother suggested her daughter sign up to race with Team Lanzoni and help raise money for cancer research.
To say Bojorquez took that idea and ran with it is an understatement.
Bojorquez says it was a nobrainer to participate, but she did more than just that. Her first year raising money for the race was an immense success.
“The reason behind my running and the Falmouth Road Race and the cancer connection, it all just made sense,” Bojorquez said. “I committed myself to the race and the fundraising and I ended up raising almost $2,000 my first year.”
Bojorquez was a little choked up when discussing the first time cancer affected her family. She was around 10 years old and her grandfather passed away.
“Cancer has come into my life many times, the first time being in fifth grade when my grandfather was unfortunately diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer,” Bojorquez said. “It wa s shocking and hit me hard at a young age.”
Bojorquez has since had other family members and friends suffer from the disease. Two of her aunts have been diagnosed with breast cancer and survived, as well as one of her dad's best friends, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
However, some of the most difficult news came last December when Bojorquez's longtime best friend Priscilla Pitts-Jennings, 25, of East Hartford, was diagnosed with cancer, stage 4 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
“[Her diagnosis] has had a really severe impact on me,” Bojorquez said. “I just wanted to fight harder and stronger than I have in the last two years.”
A poor prognosis that put Pitts-Jennings in hospice care was a frightening realization for her, as well as Bojorquez.
Bojorquez has been creative in the ways she raises money. She's raised over $35 from change jars placed in Pitts-Jennings' hospital room, a small, but meaningful portion Bojorquez has raised this year.
“She's got to be one of our most unique fund raisers on this team of 110 people,” Goodrow said.
In 2017, Bojorquez single-handedly raised over $2,100 and was given an additional $1,500 from Team Lanzoni in recognition of her fundraising efforts.
Even though she's been busier in the build-up to the race this year, Bojorquez has once again raised over $2,100. She's reached that number with a few weeks still left for the fund page.
“It's almost overwhelming, but I do it because it's become a real passion of mine,” Bojorquez said. “Cancer sucks.”
The 26-year-old's fundraising efforts have even gotten recognition from The Jimmy Fund, which reached out to her and posted her story on Facebook as a featured runner.
Team Lanzoni kicks off
its season every year with a meeting at Dana-Farber, according to Goodrow. A resident of Needham, Mass., Goodrow says he didn't know Bojorquez until she joined, but that she has attended the meetings every year since joining. There, she shares her stories of friends, family and fundraising.
The team raised $359,000 in 2017 as a whole through all of its events, which include some miniature golf tournaments and other gatherings in addition to the Falmouth Road Race. The team is on pace to beat that mark this year, with a goal set at $400,000, Goodrow says.
The 99 Restaurant chain also has a four-week in-restaurant campaign during which they ask people to donate to their DanaFarber fund. Goodrow says the campaign raises almost $250,000 alone, contributing to the over $4 million the team has raised since its inception.
“One of the great things about Team Lanzoni are people like Sarah,” Goodrow said. “They don't work for the 99 Restaurant, but they're passionate about this cause and they're passionate to be part of this team, and it's people like Sarah that really make this team.”