MacLaury seeks donations for cancer research Jimmy Fund walk honors 14-year-old grandson

Carol MacLaury of Weston is reaching out to ask friends and neighbors to consider donating in honor of her now 14-year-old grandson, Graham, as she joins walkers virtually in the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk: Your Way to support cancer research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The event takes place on Sunday, Oct. 3.

In 2017, during the early days of Graham’s fight against medulloblastoma, Graham’s mom shared a quote, “The one who moves mountains begins by carrying small stones.” The Jimmy Fund Walk is MacLaury’s way to move small stones to dismantle the mountain the family faced.

This year, participants will be encouraged to “Walk Your Way” from wherever they are most comfortable— whether that be from their neighborhood, favorite trail or from a treadmill in their own home.

MacLaury will walk the back roads of Weston, Landgrove and Andover to raise funds to support all forms of adult and pediatric patient care and cancer research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Last year, the community raised $5,405 in Graham’s honor, with a total of  $6.3 million  raised by the 6,500 participants. MacLaury’s personal 20-mile journey took 8 hours and 48 minutes walking 50,027 steps.  This year, MacLaury has set a fundraising goal of $5,500 and is part of team #grahamstrong. To support MacLaury click here.

Each year, current and former pediatric and adult cancer patients from Dana-Farber are paired with Walk teams as “Patient Partners” or more notably “Jimmy Fund Walk Heroes,” of which Graham was for  the past two years.  For the patients, their partnership with the walkers provides a unique and friendly focus outside their illnesses.  For the Walkers, the Heroes provide never-ending inspiration to participate and raise critical funds for cancer research and patient care at Dana-Farber.