$20,790! Megan and I want to thank everyone who contributed to the Massey Challenge! The total we raised for the VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center was $20,790! Over 20x the original goal! Here are some unbelievable stats on the goals we set: $1,000 initial goal reached within 25 minutes $2,500 goal reached within 1 hour $5,000 goal reached within 1 ½ hours $10,000 goal reached within 4 hours $15,000 goal reached within 11 hours $20,000 goal reached within 1 week We raised over $16,500 on the first day alone! Even though receiving donations is viewed as the main goal of fundraisers, we received much more. We connected with friends and family on a range of topics—from personal ties to the Massey Center and stories of others battling cancer to simply catching up. Whether it was running into someone at the grocery store or receiving a text, the amount of support leading up to last weekend was truly remarkable. Saturday was an amazing day for the Monument Avenue 10k! The weather was perfect. Well perfect for running, it was quite cool and breezy. My idea of perfect race day weather and Megan, Waffles, and Ritz’s idea may have been a little different since they were spectating. Nevertheless, they powered through and cheered me and the nearly 25,000 other runners and walkers on. Though I did not win the race, I did beat my sub 38 minute goal! Speaking of winning, here are the winners of the gift cards: the $25 gift card goes to Dorinda Raby, the $50 gift card goes to Billy Wilkes, and the $100 gift card goes to Jon Einbinder! I will be sending those to your email addresses so please keep an eye out for them! We are so grateful to have such amazing people in our lives. We knew we had a tremendous support system and this reiterated that. We cannot thank you enough for your continued support and prayers. Love y’all, Will Hopkins
Monument Ave 10k for Megan
Will Hopkins
Will Hopkins
Megan, my remarkable wife, was diagnosed with Stage IV Melanoma in July of last year. What started as a trip to the ER for what we thought was extreme heartburn, turned into a whirlwind of appointments, surgeries, ER visits, tests, procedures, scans and a diagnosis over the coming months—you name it, Megan has been through it. Megan has always had regular skin checks at the dermatologist and there were never any areas of concern for melanoma. Though rare, it seems the melanoma was noncutaneous, which means it did not start on the skin but instead in the organs/lymph nodes. Safe to say we didn't have that on our 2024 bingo card. Her oncology team at the VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center has been nothing short of phenomenal. They are optimistic about Megan's current immunotherapy treatment, but she still has a long road ahead.
There have been times throughout this where we have both felt helpless but we are eternally grateful for having a strong support system to pick us up. If you know someone who is going through something similar, never underestimate the impact of a simple text, phone call, or check in—it means the world. Even with this support, I have felt sidelined for a lot of Megan's journey and that is why I have accepted the Massey Challenge. Running is my brief escape from everything life throws our way. This challenge not only combines the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k (my favorite race) and the Massey Cancer Center, but it also gives me the opportunity to support their life-saving cancer research for Megan and everyone else who is forced into battling cancer.
Megan and I cannot begin to emphasize how important this research is. A little over a decade ago, the main treatment option for metastatic melanoma was chemotherapy, which had low response rates and severe side effects. Since then increased research on immunotherapy has revolutionized treatment. It enables the immune system to attack melanoma cells more effectively and has led to long-term remission in some patients and what we hope for Megan.
My goal is to raise $1,000. For every $25 donation, you will receive one entry into a raffle to win one of three American Express gift cards valued at $25, $50 and $100. Here are the details:
- Each donation increment of $25 = one entry into the raffle.
- A $50 donation = two entries, a $100 donation = four entries, etc.
- Every entry will be placed into a randomizer and we will draw one winner for each gift card on Sunday, April 13, the day after the race. (Yes, you can win multiple times!)
If you are in Richmond on April 12th, please head over to Monument Avenue to cheer me on, along with over 20,000 runners and walkers. It is a lively community event and known to be Richmond's biggest block party! Please consider donating whatever you can for this life saving cancer research!
Megan and I cannot thank you enough for your support, prayers, and generosity.
Love y'all,
Will Hopkins
There have been times throughout this where we have both felt helpless but we are eternally grateful for having a strong support system to pick us up. If you know someone who is going through something similar, never underestimate the impact of a simple text, phone call, or check in—it means the world. Even with this support, I have felt sidelined for a lot of Megan's journey and that is why I have accepted the Massey Challenge. Running is my brief escape from everything life throws our way. This challenge not only combines the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k (my favorite race) and the Massey Cancer Center, but it also gives me the opportunity to support their life-saving cancer research for Megan and everyone else who is forced into battling cancer.
Megan and I cannot begin to emphasize how important this research is. A little over a decade ago, the main treatment option for metastatic melanoma was chemotherapy, which had low response rates and severe side effects. Since then increased research on immunotherapy has revolutionized treatment. It enables the immune system to attack melanoma cells more effectively and has led to long-term remission in some patients and what we hope for Megan.
My goal is to raise $1,000. For every $25 donation, you will receive one entry into a raffle to win one of three American Express gift cards valued at $25, $50 and $100. Here are the details:
- Each donation increment of $25 = one entry into the raffle.
- A $50 donation = two entries, a $100 donation = four entries, etc.
- Every entry will be placed into a randomizer and we will draw one winner for each gift card on Sunday, April 13, the day after the race. (Yes, you can win multiple times!)
If you are in Richmond on April 12th, please head over to Monument Avenue to cheer me on, along with over 20,000 runners and walkers. It is a lively community event and known to be Richmond's biggest block party! Please consider donating whatever you can for this life saving cancer research!
Megan and I cannot thank you enough for your support, prayers, and generosity.
Love y'all,
Will Hopkins
APR
15
15
MAR
26
26
We have officially gone over the $20,000 mark in less than a week! That is 20 times our initial goal. Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed and we are still a couple of weeks out!
MAR
19
19
Thank you so much! We have hit $15k in 11 hours! I honestly can’t believe it, $20k is on deck!
Over $10k in less than four hours... Truly at a loss for words. Thank y'all so much, let's go for $15k!
Simply incredible, $5,000 in less than an hour and a half! I guess we're shooting for $10k for the10k! Thank you!
Wow, thank you! $2,500 in less than an hour! Moving it up to $5,000!
Thank y'all so much, we hit $1,000 in less than 25 minutes! Let's shoot for $2,500!
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