“Make the Magic Benefit” for University Of Pennsylvania Branch of Camp Kesem

The benefit is the largest fundraising event for Camp Kesem.

Inaugural Knights for Life Beef & Beer Fundraiser Tonight

The Knights for Life Foundation is a resource for the North Penn community that assists individuals and families who are facing issues with health or who experienced a profound loss. The foundation was made in memory of Mike Saks and Chris Melchior

Once a North Penn Knight, always a North Penn Knight. Knights For Life is a nonprofit organization that began around 2009, when co-founder Steve Melchior's brother, Chris, succumbed to colon cancer at age 46. Then, three years later, former North Penn teacher Mike Saks, a closed friend of 1985 grad Chris Melchior, succumbed to a brain tumor in January 2012.   In death, these North Penn Knights are renewing lives. "The families felt such a great sense of strength from their community and friends," said Knights For Life member Karen Rowland. "We felt that everyone that is going through something deserves that same feeling. We got together through Facebook and came up with Knights For Life." Knights For Life co-founder Scott Payne said …

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Giving Thanks: How One Nonprofit is Helping Cancer Patients See Life Anew

After 12 years of helping families struggling with cancer, 'For Pete's Sake' has received its largest donation ever.

"Though I'll never say that being diagnosed with cancer was a blessing, there have been moments, people, places, and experiences that have made me feel blessed since my diagnosis." Reading through the hundreds of entries on the nonprofit For Pete's Sake webpage, those words, written by 34-year-old Gina Etzrodt, stand out amongst submissions from cancer patients, survivors, and those who lost their battle to the disease. Many of their stories follow similar paths – A stage-3 colon cancer diagnosis at 33. A 40-year-old mother of two diagnosed with breast cancer. Mounting medical bills. Lives turned upside. Children wondering if Dad is well enough to have a game of catch. They all have something in common as well. Trips to Florida and …

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Road Closures Sunday for LIVESTRONG Bike Race

Several roads in Towamencin Township will be impacted Sunday by the 2012 bicycle race between 7 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

The 2012 LIVESTRONG Bike Race featuring Team LIVESTRONG Challenge Philly will take place Sunday throughout the Montgomery County region. According to the site, the seventh-annual event begins at Montgomery County Community College, with riders traveling distances of 10 to 100 miles.  At the finish line, each cancer survivor is celebrated with a yellow rose. A post-event party will follow. There are 20-, 45- and 100-mile options for the race Sunday. All three traverse parts of western and southern Towamencin Township, with the 100-mile option taking people as far as Berks County. Towamencin Township Police said the race will impact traffic in several areas between 7 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., calling for periodic closures. Police advised avoiding …

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The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

Lisa Loper of the Scott Loper Team will be volunteering at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure this weekend.

It used to be that I would make Mother's Day all about ME.  Scott and our kids tend to spoil me on that special day and without any reservation, I would soak it all in.  However, two years ago I tried something a little different on Mother’s Day.  My daughter and I got up at 4:30am and headed to Philadelphia to volunteer at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.  We served food to the nearly 50,000 runners and walkers at the Wawa tent (thanks to a very good friend who is a director with Wawa). I was so impressed and amazed at the number of men, women, and children who make Mother's Day about someone else.  Every year, over 100,000 people attend this annual event in Philadelphia.  So many participates wore shirts or carried signs saying who …

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Former NP Teacher Saks Succumbs to Tumor, Benefit Continues

Mike Saks was a physics teacher at North Penn High School in the mid-90s, as well as a coach for wrestling, softball and tennis

Lansdale native Mike Saks was a wrestling star in the mid-1980s at North Penn, accomplishing the 1984 sectional championship in his weight class and being the 1985 state qualifier in his weight class during his senior year. He would go on to coach wrestling at the high school, in addition to coaching girls' softball and girls' tennis. He was also a physics teacher at North Penn High School in the mid-90s, and even taught math and coached at Pennridge High School later in his career. Like a good wrestling match, Saks would face a beast not once, but twice, in his life. He was able to pin and beat a brain tumor almost five years ago. In an unfortunate rematch, and nearly an eight-month battle, Saks succumbed to a brain tumor Monday morning …

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Breast Cancer in Men

This year, the American Cancer Society estimates 2,190 new cases of invasive breast cancer in men in this country. They estimate 410 men will die.

Allen Wilson doesn’t mind being a poster child for a pink cause. “Exploit me,” he said. Wilson was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003 when he was 51. Now he’s using his experience to save other grandfathers, fathers, sons, brothers and uncles. Wilson, of Houston, noticed a lump under his nipple, but he ignored it until the day he collided with one of his sons while playing basketball. He did some research and decided he needed to see his doctor. “Two days later, I had a mammogram. It’s amazing what those technicians can do with so little tissue to work with,” he said. Wilson had a mastectomy and chemotherapy. His hair was falling out, so his two sons helped give him a Mohawk and paint half red and half green for a family Christmas card. …

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Applebee's Hosts Kickoff Fundraiser for Alex's Lemonade Stand

Montgomery Township police and fire departments were among the many volunteers.

On Saturday morning, the Applebee's in Montgomeryville hosted a flapjack fundraiser for Alex's Lemonade Stand, kicking off an upcoming monthlong stretch of raising funds to help battle childhood cancer. Members of the Fire Department of Montgomery Township, along with the local Boy Scout troop, volunteered to serve food, while several officers from the Montgomery Township Police Department also attended. "We've got a police officer here fingerprinting the kids, and the K-9 unit is on its way," said Rebekah Detrich, of Applebee's Montgomeryville. The officer doing the fingerprinting was Officer Jim Matlack, whose fingerprinting initiative has taken him to nearly every major local event. Outside the Applebee's, a replica of the original "…

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Remembering Lynn

Lynn Janoff, 62, succumbed to cancer March 12. She is remembered as a 'cheerleader' for Lansdale and one of its best and dedicated citizens.

Even in the last days of her life, dedicated and beloved Lansdale Borough resident and former Reporter newspaper employee Lynn Janoff was putting others before herself. Three weeks before she died of stage four lung cancer March 12, Lynn, 62, asked her son-in-law Krister Johnson to check her email. When they did, they discovered an email from Kiva.org, an online lending platform to donate microfinance loans to people across the globe so they can start a small business. Lynn donated $100 to a woman in Africa to start her own business. “We asked her, ‘Did you make a Kiva donation?’ and she said, ‘I just did that. It’s a hundred dollars for someone,’” said Lynn’s daughter, Heather Janoff Johnson, of Brooklyn, N.Y. “We said, ‘You don’t have …

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