By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Bringing Hope Home had a decision to make about its STOMPS Cancer 5K Run & Family Walk in Sea Isle City during the coronavirus pandemic: Cancel it or improvise.
The nonprofit organization holds the event each summer to raise tens of thousands of dollars to help cancer patients and their families cope with the emotional and financial hardships of the disease.
But with COVID-19 victimizing so many people who are immune-compromised, such as cancer patients, it would have been impossible to gather hundreds of participants on Sea Isle’s Promenade for the run and walk and still maintain social distancing.
Not wanting to cancel, the organizers switched to Plan B and decided to hold a virtual event that began June 27 and concluded Sunday. Participants either ran or walked on their own to raise money.
Bringing Hope Home officials said about 700 people participated virtually and raised an estimated $36,000 to $37,000, about the same amount of money as last year. In all, people from 17 states as far away as Nevada, Texas and Washington took part in the virtual event.
“We have a great outpouring of wonderful people. We call it ‘Hope Nation.’ This year it came true,” Paul Isenberg, CEO of Bringing Hope Home, said of the nationwide support.
Isenberg’s wife, Nicole, died of cancer in 2003, inspiring him to found Bringing Hope Home, which is based in Malvern, Pa.
Since its inception in 2008, the organization has supported about 6,300 families in the Philadelphia and South Jersey area with more than $7 million in assistance. It helps out cancer patients and their families with payments for essential household expenses, including rent, mortgages, utility bills and groceries.
The Sea Isle run and walk is one of its major fundraising events. More than 40 cancer families will receive financial help from this summer’s event, said Judy Swahl, family outreach coordinator for Bringing Hope Home.
Isenberg praised the Bringing Hope Home staff for being creative to save the event, albeit virtually. He noted that the pandemic proved to be a daunting challenge.
“My staff has done a phenomenal job of being flexible, because everything has changed,” he said.
Thirty teams of runners and walkers also helped to raise money for the virtual Sea Isle event. Isenberg had one team. Another team, dubbed “Hoggie’s Heroes,” was led by Maureen Walsh, a Sea Isle resident who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of skin cancer five years ago.
At the same time Walsh was fighting her skin cancer, which had invaded her right ear, neck and upper back, she and her husband, Chuck, had the added stress of soaring medical bills.
Bringing Hope Home helped to ease some of their financial struggles by paying their mortgage for a month. Now, the 58-year-old Walsh has become an advocate and fundraiser for the organization.
Isenberg said Bringing Hope Home was determined to hold the Sea Isle fundraiser in some shape or form to continue with its mission of helping cancer patients and their families – especially now, during the pandemic.
“They still have to pay their bills and get their treatments to be taken care of,” Isenberg said. “We don’t want anyone to carry any excessive burden.”
