The Carow Packaging family is participating in the Nik Ritschel Foundation’s 2021 Home Run Campaign, a 7K run or 1.5 mile walk, to help make wishes come true for young adults aged 17 and up, who are fighting cancer. The Nik Ritschel Foundation was created with their primary mission to boost morale and grant wishes for teens and young adults battling the disease. One of their main fundraising events, the 2021 Home Run Campaign, will grant wishes for eight teens in the community.

Nik discovered that young adults over 17 are not eligible for cancer support network programs like Make-A-Wish. Nik identified this gap and his last wish was for the Foundation named in his honor to help young adults fighting cancer to have a wish too.

There are plenty of young adult cancer patients. Edumed.org reveals that 1 in 100 college-age students will face some form of cancer during their college years. That caught the Carow team’s attention.

For some young people, the future turns from exciting to terrifying overnight. Take Victoria. She was just five days away from moving into her freshman dorm room at Illinois State when she was diagnosed with cancer. The move never happened. She did eventually get to start some classes online – and then her cancer relapsed. Victoria now has a “wish-in-waiting” with the Nik Ritschel Foundation.

“The Carow Packaging family has been touched in one way or another by Cancer and we realize how powerful we are when we come together as a group,” said Sean Joyce, Carow’s Director of Solutions, who is a 13-year cancer survivor. Janet Freund, Carow’s Marketing Support Specialist is also a cancer survivor of 19 years. “So, helping raise money and running/walking as a team to support the 10-year anniversary of the Home Run Campaign was an easy decision we could all rally around,” Joyce added.

As of mid-September, Carow Packaging’s “Carowbots” team was leading the competition. We have a passion to keep it that way! If you would care to help our team make a wish come true for a teen battling cancer like Victoria, you can learn more and donate here.