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Denver, CO. Lung cancer survivor-advocate Kim Ringen was the top fundraiser in Team Draft’s Lung Cancer Survivors Super Bowl Challenge. Kim and her husband, Davin, will represent Team Draft at Super Bowl 50 and the 25th annual Taste of the NFL the first weekend in February.
“Having the opportunity to be apart of the Lung Cancer Super Bowl challenge has been a fun and exciting experience. It is about spreading awareness about this beast of a disease…and the cherry on top is to be in the stands of the biggest football game of the year!!”
The Super Bowl Challenge participants were part of a friendly competition, with the top fundraisers awarded trips to Super Bowl 50, the NFL Pro-Bowl and the Taste of the NFL. Kim and the other winners, announced on January 4, 2016, will have an opportunity to share their powerful stories with key individuals with influence from across the country.
“Opening day of the (LCSC) challenge my health declined and I was hospitalized…some would say that the timing was less than ideal – I say the timing was perfect!!! Rather than laying in the hospital bed constantly wondering if I was going to make it through… We were on our phones launching our campaign via social media spreading the word about the importance of research funding.”
“The LCSC gave me a gift…as I was wheeled in and out of different diagnostic and surgical procedures we would get updates on our phones that yet another donation and encouraging comment had came through…This was such an uplifting experience in a time that would have been considered very mentally draining. After having a large wedge of my lung surgically removed I felt my inner fight grow stronger. I have considered myself a fighter throughout these last 2.5 years – but honestly just before the (LCSC) challenge began I felt a drain in my mental stamina…I fully believe the LCSC and the generous loving support from my friends and family ignited my spark..my fight!!! And that is what is keeping me alive!!!”
I choose Life!!!!!
Thank you Chris Draft Family Foundation! ~ KImberly Ringen
The survivors that raise over $1,000 can designate a beneficiary for 50% of their funds raised. Kim has designated the Lung Cancer Colorado Fund at UC Health as her beneficiary.
All of the participants will be able to continue raising funds until the Super Bowl, February 7, 2016.
Team Draft was founded by NFL veteran Linebacker Chris Draft and his late wife Keasha, an engineer and Clemson graduate who died of lung cancer at the age of 38.
“Super Bowl and Pro Bowl week are a fitting time to spotlight the crusade to change the face of lung cancer. The level of commitment, drive and passion required to make it this far parallels the efforts required to get lung cancer research to the next level,” said Chris Draft who co-founded Team Draft with his late wife Keasha to change the face of lung cancer.
Keasha and Chris Draft had attended the Super Bowl the year of her diagnosis, fulfilling one of her lifelong dreams. The memory of that Super Bowl trip served as part of the inspiration for The Super Bowl Challenge. “It takes a team to tackle lung cancer, and the Super Bowl Challenge has expanded this amazing team. Keasha’s legacy of hope lives on through the Super Bowl Challenge team and we are grateful to all who have contributed and continue to contribute to lung cancer awareness, research, treatment and patient advocacy efforts, and “said Draft. “We are excited to have the opportunity to take this year’s Super Bowl Challenge winners and their stories to the Super Bowl, the Pro-Bowl, and the Taste of the NFL.”
About the Super Bowl
The day on which the Super Bowl is played, now considered by some an unofficial American national holiday,[1][2] is called “Super Bowl Sunday”. It is the second-largest day for U.S. food consumption, after Thanksgiving Day.[3] In addition, the Super Bowl has frequently been the most-watched American television broadcast of the year; the four most-watched broadcasts in U.S. television history are Super Bowls.[4] In 2015, Super Bowl XLIX became the most-watched American television program in history with an average audience of 114.4 million viewers, the fifth time in six years the game had set a record, starting with the 2010 Super Bowl, which itself had taken over the number-one spot held for 27 years by the final episode of M*A*S*H.[5][6][7] The Super Bowl is also among the most-watched sporting events in the world, almost all audiences being North American, and is second to soccer’s UEFA Champions League final as the most watched annual sporting event worldwide
About Team Draft
Team Draft, an initiative of the Chris Draft Family Foundation, is dedicated to raising lung cancer awareness and increasing badly needed research funding by shattering the misconception that lung cancer is a “smoker’s disease.” Despite the fact that between 20,000 and 30,000 people who have never smoked are diagnosed with lung cancer in the United States each year, the smoking stigma negatively impacts lung cancer research funding, which pales in comparison to funding for other major cancers and diseases. Team Draft is committed to educating people about the true nature of lung cancer, raising funds for research and improving the lives of those affected by lung cancer. To learn more about Team Draft, share your story, or make a donation, please visit https://www.teamdraft.org.
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