According to the Leukemia Research Foundation, over 382,000 people are living with leukemia, or are in remission. They also state that 170 Americans are diagnosed with leukemia, and 67 lose their fight with the deadly disease everyday. One of those people was Brittany Beckmann who passed away in 2014 at the age of 24. Members of her family started a bakery in her memory, and always set up a tent at the R4, with all proceeds going to the event. While the runners and camaraderie at the R4 are always impressive, it’s the money raised to help those battling blood cancer and other catastrophic illnesses which makes this race so special. Equally important is the bone marrow drive that takes place there. An important moment was recognized at the end of Saturday’s race. It was announced that Michael Carpinone, Brittany Beckmann’s brother, was swabbed at a previous R4. He recently received a call that he was a match for someone, which will help save their life. Kudos to Michael for getting swabbed and for proceeding with the process of aiding his match in their battle. The R4, one of the largest foot races in the Hudson Valley, has raised over $2,300,000 to date, and currently benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Trevor Loughlin Foundation, which issues grants to patients battling blood cancer and other acute catastrophic illnesses. The race director and the event’s legion of volunteers deserve a ton of praise for making this event what it is today. You can visit www.rockhillrun.com for more information, and please consider making a donation to this great cause. Also, while this wonderful event happens once a year, there are many other ways to become a donor. Just head over to Google and you’ll find a number of organizations where you can request a swab kit. This includes We Delete Blood Cancer (www.dkms.org), Gift of Life (www.giftoflife.org) and so on. Once you’re swabbed you never know when you’ll get that call. It could be rather quickly or maybe even a few years, but when you do, you will be able to give the greatest gift of all … life.