Newtown Cancer Nonprofit Celebrates 10 Years, Hits $1M Goal

NEWTOWN, PA — A Love For Life, Penn Medicine’s biggest donor to pancreatic cancer research, celebrated its 10-year anniversary in April — on the same day that it reached its $1 million fundraising mark.

The achievement also falls on the same day in 2012, April 10, that founder Christine Edmond’s husband Kevin passed away. She and her family launched the non-profit soon after with a mission of helping to find a cure for pancreatic cancer "while celebrating life, friendship, and adventure along the way."

Kevin and his sister Nora were both diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at 49 and passed away at 51.

“Over the past 10 years, I have forged tremendous relationships with the doctors at Abramson Cancer Center," Edmonds said. "In fact, Dr. Ben Stanger, the head of pancreatic research at UPenn, and Dr. Mark O’Hara, a member of the research department, actively participate in our fundraising events and have been tremendously supportive, and that means the world to us."

The five-year survival rate has increased dramatically since her family members were diagnosed, according to a news release.

"Ten years later we have managed to double [the] number to 11%, but it is still a difficult diagnosis to receive," she said. "Although new developments will not help those we have loved and lost, our hope is that we can improve outcomes for patients who are dealing with a pancreatic cancer diagnosis today, and those who will face this challenge in the future. Our wish is to one day find a cure for this cancer, but in the meantime we want patients to have a better chance at survival, and a better quality of life.”

Bucks-area residents and business owners have helped A Love For Life reach this day.

Over the past 10 years, the community has banded together to create, donate to,

and participate in annual events such as:

• 3M Austin Half Marathon: Four Newtown residents fly to Texas every year for this January race, sporting ALFL t-shirts, to raise money.
• Newtown Shamrock Shuffle 5K partners with ALFL: over 600 runners, many wearing green or purple tutus, charge through Newtown to raise money and awareness for ALFL.
• Serving Up A Love for Life Tennis Benefit at Northampton Tennis and Fitness Club in Richboro: Players and sponsors, including Luxe Pro Shop of Newtown, RE/MAX Realtor, and John Kennedy Ford of Feasterville, raised $8,500 in March.
• ALFL Dragon Boats that race in the Philadelphia International Dragon Boat race: raise thousands each year. Race has been cancelled since 2020 due to the pandemic, but is expected to resume this year.
• Annual sponsors include Beneficial Bank, Groundswell Design Group, Newtown Hardware House, Elle Kaplan True Yoga, SurroundCycle, and more than 50 other companies.
• Oktoberfest featuring food donated by DiBruno Brothers, beer by Warsteiner USA, and gummy bears by Haribo raised over $10,000 in 2019; stay tuned for the post-pandemic Oktoberfest in October 2022.

The community has also come together for A Love For Life through smaller one-off fundraising events that include: yoga classes, 5Ks, bike trips, cookie sales, shopping days, lemonade stands, charity dinners, karaoke nights, wine tastings, art auctions, tennis benefits, garage sales, dance parties, jewelry sales, plant sales, coffee sales, music concerts, movie nights, donations from birthdays and weddings, and more.

“For every fundraising event big and small, 100% of monies raised were given to Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center, a world leader in cancer research, diagnosis, personalized treatment and patient care,” Edmonds said. “Throughout his patient journey, Kevin was given stellar care by their team."

She added, "I know Kevin is smiling down on me, and our children today — and at all the friendships made and adventures we’ve had along the way. Today is a bittersweet milestone, but one about which we are all very proud.”

Those wishing to support A Love for Life can do so online.

Be the first to know what's going on in Newtown when you subscribe to Patch.