The Jolly Jump experienced a number of firsts this year.
It’s been our goal for a while now—a decade, in fact—to reach the $10,000-mark. Well yesterday, on the 10th anniversary of the Jolly Jump, we raised $10,074.50!
We had initially tallied a number a little shy of this milestone, back at the Marshfield Tavern, but we did not take into account the tenacity of our Jolly Jump community! Thanks to some added support for Laura Kelly, Marco Gulinello, Josh Russell, Dan Torpey, Big Joe Simonson, and Connor Fraser (who pulled in an astounding $300 post-Jump) we ascended into the next level of charities that raise funds for the American Cancer Society and families affected by this disease.
We celebrated our 10th anniversary taking the plunge. Check out the Jolly Jump Hall of Fame to see who’s taken down Top Dog this past decade.
We also witnessed the first jumper ever to achieve Triple Top Dog status, in Dan McDonagh, who beat out his own personal best and set a new Jolly Jump fundraising record, reeling in a total of $1,657.50 for the 2014 Jolly Jump. He beat his own record of $1,590, set back in ’07.
The Jolly Jump extends its heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Danny Vasselian
Dec. 25, 2013
On December 23, 2013, the world lost a hero.
Sergeant Daniel M. Vasselian, 27, of Abington, was killed in action during his third combat tour of duty. Sgt. Vasselian served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, since his 2006 enlistment in the Marine Corps.
He will be missed greatly by many family and friends.
“Words will never express what he was to me. I’ve loved him my entire life. My brother, my best friend and my whole heart… thank you for being you,” sister Jeannine Vasselian wrote on her Facebook page.
Read more in the Boston Globe.
Along with the ACS, the JJ is raising money for two families in 2014…
Nov. 2, 2013
Estelle Martinez
Estelle Martinez is a normal, silly, 2-year-old girl and loves playing around with her younger brother Jack. She loves princesses and was recently nicknamed Princess Warrior Estelle by her family because of her strong will and resilience, even after enduring her first week of chemo treatments.
Estelle was recently diagnosed with an atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor (AT/RT), which is is the rarest and deadliest form of childhood cancer. She currently lives in Texas, but is seeking treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in Boston, Mass.
Paul Lyons
At 47, Paul Lyons was diagnosed with Stage 4 Brain Cancer, with a frontal lobe glioblastoma tumor, in July 2011. He went into emergency surgery immediately following the diagnosis, at Tufts Medical Center, in Boston. Surgeons removed much of the tumor, but could not safely get it all. The tumor was too deep into his brain and would have left him paralyzed for life.
He went through six weeks of aggressive radiation, five days a week at Tufts. Following radiation, he was put on chemotherapy indefinitely, undergoing MRI brain scans every three months. He returned to Home Depot in Rockland to work two days a week. Then in the beginning of 2013 they took him off of chemo. On his 49th birthday he was told the tumor had grown back and had a second surgery in May.