Christine Edmonds started the Newtown-based organization, A Love For Life, nearly ten years ago after losing both her sister-in-law, Nora, and her husband, Kevin, to pancreatic cancer.
"Nora had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer back in 2007. The life expectancy if you have a stage 4 diagnosis is about 180 days," said Edmonds. "She lived 18 months, which is a big success, but was still really hard for us."
"Six months after she passed away, my husband had really bad stomach pains and back aches, so we did find out on Christmas Eve of 2010 that it was pancreatic cancer,' she added.
[Ads /]
Edmonds said they both were diagnosed when they were 49-years-old and passed away at 51-years-old.
"Which is so young, you know. Too young," said Edmonds.
Soon after, several neighbors competed in a dragon boat race and the team was named "A Love For Life," in Kevin's honor. That's where everything started.
"And it got bigger and bigger. I started having wine tastings, we've had Oktoberfests. Every dollar of what we raise goes to Penn to fund pancreatic cancer research," said Edmonds.
A Love For Life partners with the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania and 100% of the proceeds go towards cancer research in Philadelphia.
"Our mission statement is celebrating life and friendship and adventure," said Edmonds.
Edmonds said while they care a lot about raising money, they also care a lot about raising awareness.
[Ads /]
Over the last decade, they have raised close to $1 million.
For more information on A Love For Life, CLICK HERE.