Walking through the halls of Guilford's A.W. Cox Elementary School Friday morning, I couldn't help but notice the matching t-shirts many teachers and staff were wearing. I asked one of the teachers who was outfitted in one if the purple and grey "Carl's Crusader" shirts what they stood for.
Turns out, the t-shirts are for Smilow Cancer Hospital's "Closer to Free" Ride tomorrow, September 7, at the Yale Bowl, which many of the Cox staff are participating in. They're riding in honor of one of the staff member's, Stacey Hubbard's, late husband Carl Hubbard, who passed away last June of an aggressive form of germ cell cancer. Carl was a volunteer firefighter for 25 years and grew up in Guilford.
"Our team, which currently has 67 members, has already raised $57,000 for the cause," Stacey told us proudly. "Tomorrow, our team members will ride 25, 62 or 100 miles for the 'Closer to Free' cause."
That 67 person team is made up of participants from all over the northeast, including people who are coming from Pennsylvania and New York to show their support at the ride tomorrow. Their youngest rider is 13 years old.
The ride is in its third year and is the largest fundraiser Smilow puts together each year. 100% of the proceeds go directly to clinical care and research.
Even though several of the staffers couldn't ride tomorrow, they wore their shirts today to show their support of Stacey and her late husband, and to stand in solidarity with the "Closer to Free" cause.
To find out more about Stacey and Carl's story, check out this New Haven Register feature story. You can also check up on Carl's Crusaders on their Facebook page.
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