Six years ago, I lost my husband, Mike, to pancreatic cancer. He and I talked about a lot in the few weeks we had before his passing - he had one request of me…to create more awareness around the disease so others wouldn't have to go through what we were going through.

What I've learned is there isn't enough dollars spent on research for some of the more complicated and therefore most deadly cancers. And sadly, funds for the National Institute of Health, the largest organization to provide research dollars to organizations and people actually doing the research, have been slashed, making it even harder for much needed cancer research to take place.

Cancer is the 2nd leading cause of death in the USA and I drastically want to fix this statistic. Innovative research needs to take place in order to find early detection methods and identify the most effective treatments for each type of cancer.

I've joined Pelotonia, a global community with a goal of ending cancer. As a united force, the Pelotonia community has raised over nearly $310 million in support of cancer research at the OSUCCC – James. And our momentum is unstoppable! 