Aloha friends and family.
I am honored to be part of a team paddling this fall for Paddle for Life to support cancer patients and their families with essential services and resources. Having watched my step-father, Lanny, fight against and ultimately lose his life to pancreatic cancer, I know firsthand the emotional and financial struggle it takes on those fighting for their lives as well as on their families. I want to help raise money for those who are not as fortunate to have the support that my family had.
I am paddling in honor of my late step-father Lanny Openshaw who greatly shaped who I am as a person and an athlete. He always supported my brothers and me in our athletic pursuits and encouraged us to move our bodies. He was also a community builder and someone who knew that we, as a society, were greater together as a team. (The photo shows him getting ready to walk me down the aisle when I got married at 25.)
Please consider donating to this great cause.
Love,
Laura
