As we have done each year since 2014, the SamStrong team will be participating in the St. Jude Memphis Marathon on December 5, 2026.  The marathon is St. Jude’s largest single-day fundraising event, and it’s impact is even greater as the participants, volunteers, staff, and families gather in Memphis.  Nothing brings home the importance of the mission like seeing everything that’s being done at the campus.  Following last year’s amazing experience, our niece Emmaline Ray and her friends will again be joining Tammy and I for race day.  It will be a great weekend, as we all know there’s fun in all fundraising!  Get it, FUNdraising!!!

Click here to donate to the SamStrong team for the 2026 St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend.

Thank you.

The St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend never fails to bring memories, inspiration, and hope, and this year was no exception.  This year was made even more special by the SamStrong team welcoming our nephew Mark, his oldest daughter Emmaline, and six of Emmaline’s friends.  It meant so much to us to have them join us in the 5k, honoring Sam’s legacy and supporting the kids of St. Jude.  As the girls were lined up for the start, joining in the pre-race celebrations, the race announcer spotted them and gave a big shout-out to Team SamStrong.  What a moment!  We all had a great time, and enthusiasm was built for an even stronger return in 2026!

We are so very grateful to everyone who supports SamStrong.  Thanks to our friends in the Reitz Memorial High School family, the Indiana University Indianapolis Honors College / Alpha Lambda Delta / Phi Eta Sigma, and so many individual supporters, we helped St. Jude raise an amazing $15,800,000 this past weekend!  We are so looking forward to the day when Danny Thomas’ vision is fulfilled, and no child dies in the dawn of life.  What a celebration it will be!

Friday September 4, Memorial High School held the 14^th annual SamStrong Childhood Cancer Awareness football game, hosting Evansville Central.  The high temperatures did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm, as the cheerleaders and students were decked out in gold and black and the team sported their gold socks.

This year’s “Strong like Sam” message had a double meaning, as this was the first home game since the passing of 2023 Memorial alumni and superfan Sam Schulz after his life-long battle with epidermolysis bullosa.  Sam and Sam gave the Memorial community timeless examples of strength and resiliency, each displaying a never-give-up attitude in the face of ultimately insurmountable obstacles.

We are so very grateful to our Memorial family for their support of our family and Sam’s cause – finding cures and saving children.  We also want to acknowledge the amazing sports photography of Amy Broshears.

When Sam was diagnosed with medulloblastoma in 2009, it was thought to be a single type of cancer, and there were only two treatment paths — one for infants and one for older children.  St. Jude researchers have led the way in better understanding medulloblastoma in order to maximize the effectiveness of treatment while minimizing the side effects.  But conducting research is not the final step.  Research data must be accessible.  In keeping with there mission, St. Jude created a portal, available to doctors around the world, with point-and-click tools to help doctors use the data to select the most effective treatment plans.

Click here to read the article on this breakthrough research.

Your support of St. Jude and SamStrong makes this research possible.