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Published on 03/16/1998 All articles from this issue

Los Altos sisters running to save lives through Leukemia Society

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Special to the Town Crier

Two sisters, born, raised and still living in Los Altos, are training to run in the San Diego Rock 'N' Roll Marathon (26.2 miles) on June 21, all to give hope to families afflicted with leukemia.

Sandy Dougherty Antony and Julie Dougherty LoGrasso are part of the Leukemia Society's Team in Training Program.

The program provides the participants with marathon training and support in exchange for funds raised for the Leukemia Society.

Antony and LoGrasso are running in honor of Taylor Calvert, an 8-year-old Saratoga boy who was diagnosed with leukemia in 1993 but who is now in remission.

"It's all about Taylor and kids like Taylor who need our help to beat this disease," Antony said. "We've been so incredibly fortunate all of our lives and have healthy children of our own so we decided it was time to help those families that need it most."

LoGrasso decided to do this after evaluating her life while on a six-week sabbatical from her job at Silicon Graphics in Mountain View.

"I was happy with my life, but something was missing," LoGrasso said. "I wanted to help others. I wanted a challenge. I wanted to make a difference. The Team in Training Program seemed to be the perfect way to do it all. And because my sister was a fellow recreational runner, I knew she'd want to do it, too."

"It was important for us to know that the money we raise was going to go toward research for finding a cure and support programs for families dealing with the disease," Antony said. "In fact, 85 percent of donations that come through the Leukemia Society go directly to research and the research is working."

Twenty-five years ago, only 5 percent of children diagnosed with leukemia survived. Today, 73 percent of children with leukemia and 76 percent of those with Hodgkin's disease will live thanks to the research funded by people involved in projects like Team in Training.

Antony, a director at Cisco Systems, is even getting her employer and co-workers involved. She is asking her colleagues for support and will match their contributions. Her employer will then match that amount.

"We've set a personal goal to raise $10,000 and we'd love to get the town of Los Altos behind us to accomplish that goal," Antony said.

The sisters are accepting donations and will acknowledge all supporters by putting their supporters' (personal or business) names on their training shirts. "When we're running on the streets of our community, we'll want everyone to be aware of and share in this effort," LoGrasso said.

Donations received by March 31 will be acknowledged on the training T-shirts.

Donations can be made to: The Leukemia Society, and mailed to: 3367 Lubich Drive, Mountain View 94040.