Photos by Julie Koehn/The Gazette
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Aiming for a Cure
After months of sickness, at seven years old, Ben Ries was diagnosed with medullublastoma. A brain tumor.
For five and a half years he battled radiation, chemo, and surgeries until the cancer took his life at twelve years old.
But the boy described with a smile on his face at all times, hasn't been forgotten.
Aiming for a Cure Hunt began in 2004. Hunters from all over gather at the Highland Hideaway Hunt Club near Riverside to sport clays and hunt pheasants. This year was no different. Over the weekend of March 20-21, 2010, 84 hunters and 20 celebrities gathered for the event where hunters pay to hunt and companies provide generous donations with 100% of the proceeds going toward the families of children cancer patients at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City.
The benefit was a way for Steve and Jodie Ries to give back to the University of Iowa Children's Hospital for the treatment of their son, Ben. The money raised is used for family costs that are not covered by insurance - including anything from funerals, to gas expenses for trips to the hospital. What's left over goes toward cancer research.
Proceeding the seventh annual fundraiser, $720,000 had been raised. This year's goal was to reach the one million dollar mark.
But Steve Ries insists it's not about the money. "It's about the lives," he said.
Three children have gone through the same cancer his son struggled to beat and have walked away okay. That, to Steve, is what it's all about. And as long as there is children's cancer, Steve said the benefit will continue to grow each year.
Through tears, Steve recalled Ben at the first two Aiming for a Cure Hunts. "He was truly the celebrity," he said. "And still is today."
Photos by Julie Koehn/The Gazette
For five and a half years he battled radiation, chemo, and surgeries until the cancer took his life at twelve years old.
But the boy described with a smile on his face at all times, hasn't been forgotten.
Aiming for a Cure Hunt began in 2004. Hunters from all over gather at the Highland Hideaway Hunt Club near Riverside to sport clays and hunt pheasants. This year was no different. Over the weekend of March 20-21, 2010, 84 hunters and 20 celebrities gathered for the event where hunters pay to hunt and companies provide generous donations with 100% of the proceeds going toward the families of children cancer patients at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City.
The benefit was a way for Steve and Jodie Ries to give back to the University of Iowa Children's Hospital for the treatment of their son, Ben. The money raised is used for family costs that are not covered by insurance - including anything from funerals, to gas expenses for trips to the hospital. What's left over goes toward cancer research.
Proceeding the seventh annual fundraiser, $720,000 had been raised. This year's goal was to reach the one million dollar mark.
But Steve Ries insists it's not about the money. "It's about the lives," he said.
Three children have gone through the same cancer his son struggled to beat and have walked away okay. That, to Steve, is what it's all about. And as long as there is children's cancer, Steve said the benefit will continue to grow each year.
Through tears, Steve recalled Ben at the first two Aiming for a Cure Hunts. "He was truly the celebrity," he said. "And still is today."
Photos by Julie Koehn/The Gazette
Friday, March 5, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)