Gina Hollenbeck

Memphis, TN. Lung cancer survivor Gina Hollenbeck and her husband Greg represented Team Draft and The ALK Positive Group at the 28th annual Taste of the NFL in Atlanta, GA on February 2, 2019 and Super Bowl 53 on February 3, 2019.

I was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in Oct. 2015. I was 38 years old, married with 2 young boys. I was shocked to find out I had lung cancer since I have never smoked and really had no risk factor what so ever. I was very athletic and ate healthy. I was the picture of health. Until, I was diagnosed, I never really paid attention to lung cancer even though I was a nurse. I am super excited about the opportunity to go to the Superbowl with my husband, but I am more excited to give lung cancer a voice. I think the opportunity to speak with celebrities and athletes about lung cancer and to let them know about the injustices related to lung cancer are important. I want them to know that this disease is the number one cancer killer of men and women. I wasn’t aware of this and I know that many others aren’t either. I hope to use this challenge to change the face of lung cancer. ~ Gina Hollenbeck

Gina and Greg earned a trip to the 28th annual Taste of the NFL by placing second in Team Draft’s 2019 Lung Cancer Survivors Super Bowl Challenge. Gina and Greg were surprised with tickets to Super Bowl 53 on local CBS 46 by Team Draft co-founder Chris Draft, CBS sports anchor Fred Kalil, and Freddy the Falcon.

I’m so excited to go to the Taste of the NFL! The opportunity to be in Atlanta during the Super Bowl week is going to be a great way to advocate for lung cancer survivors and to bring awareness to ALK lung cancer, genomic testing, early screening and detection, and the need for research. I’m so honored to get the opportunity to represent survivors.~ Gina Hollenbeck
Founded by Draft and his late wife Keasha, who died of lung cancer in 2011 at the age of 38, Team Draft is dedicated to raising lung cancer awareness and increasing badly needed research funding through its Campaign To Change The Face Of Lung Cancer, which is committed to shattering the misconception that lung cancer is a “smoker’s disease.” The centerpiece of Team Draft’s Campaign is its annual Lung Cancer Survivors Super Bowl Challenge.

As Draft explains, “the Super Bowl Challenge gives us a unique opportunity to use the overwhelming media coverage surrounding the Super Bowl as a platform to raise critical public awareness about lung cancer on an international level.  With the game as a backdrop, we can use each survivor’s story to weave a broader narrative about the state of lung cancer and the hope that now exists for those battling the disease.”  And Team Draft’s efforts are paying off.

“The Super Bowl Challenge achieves amazing things in terms of public awareness and changing perceptions about lung cancer,” says Dr. Ross Camidge, the Director of Thoracic Oncology at Colorado University Cancer Center, the cancer center where two of last year’s Super Bowl Challenge winners were treated.

In addition to raising critical public awareness, the Super Bowl Challenge also raises funds for lung cancer organizations and treatment centers across North America.

Of this aspect of the Super Bowl Challenge, Dr. Camidge says, “you need somebody working on the national level. You need somebody working on the local level. Everybody wins.”

Gina has raised over $5,000 so her beneficiary, The ALK Positive Research Fund with Lungevity, will receive 80% of her funds (-fees) and the remaining 20% will support Team Draft’s mission to change the face of lung cancer.

For the survivors who participate, the Super Bowl Challenge is so much more than just a fundraiser.

“Team Draft has really helped boost our family’s spirits during this challenging time,” says Dr. Lucy Kalanithi. In 2015, Lucy and her husband, Dr. Paul Kalanithi, won Team Draft’s inaugural Super Bowl Challenge and were able to join Team Draft in Phoenix, Arizona for Super Bowl 49.  Paul went on to write the bestselling memoir When Breath Becomes Air — a powerful and moving chronicle of his life and lung cancer journey — before passing away at the age of 37.

2016 Super Bowl Challenge winner, Kim Ringen says, “As a lung cancer survivor, I would highly recommend to anybody to put your hat in the ring because it is so uplifting to be associated with a group of people that are coming together to make a difference.”

To learn more about Team Draft’s 2019   Lung Cancer Survivors Super Bowl Challenge, visit https://www.crowdrise.com/o/en/campaign/2019superbowlchallenge

Special thanks to NFL, Astra Zeneca, and all of our Team Draft supporters for helping make this experience possible.

About Team Draft

Team Draft, an initiative of the Chris Draft Family Foundation, is dedicated to raising lung cancer awareness and increasing 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, Team Draft is out to change all that. To learn more about Team Draft, share your story, or make a donation, please visit www.teamdraft.org.

I’m Gina Hollenbeck. I was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in Oct. 2015. I was 38 years old, married with 2 young boys. I was shocked to find out I had lung cancer since I have never smoked and really had no risk factor what so ever. I was very athletic and ate healthy. I was the picture of health. Until, I was diagnosed, I never really paid attention to lung cancer even though I was a nurse. I am super excited about the opportunity to go to the Superbowl with my husband, but I am more excited to give lung cancer a voice. I think the opportunity to speak with celebrities and athletes about lung cancer and to let them know about the injustices related to lung cancer are important. I want them to know that this disease is the number one cancer killer of men and women. I wasn’t aware of this and I know that many others aren’t either. I hope to win this challenge to change the face of lung cancer.