How does a Fortune 100 company feel when one of their “family” members suffers a great loss? Motivated. John-Paul Purssord recently suffered the loss of his 4 year old son to brain cancer. It is a tragedy that would leave most of us feeling absolutely powerless to help. At Nationwide, however, the response was just the opposite.

“Despite the fact that we are a very large corporation, Nationwide employees are treated more like part of a big family – and we take family matters seriously,” according to Chip Morris, Sales Manager for Nationwide on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Southern Delaware. “Although John-Paul and his family suffered the ultimate loss last month, the struggle has been going on since Jack was 4 months old. Since we found out about the diagnosis, we’ve been doing everything we can to be there for Jean Paul and to help raise awareness and funding for research of this tragic disease.”

Nationwide had already signed up as a sponsor of the St. Michaels Running Festival because of the broad community support and focus on health and wellness that this race brings as one of the largest endurance events in Maryland. However, the recent loss of Jack soon made Nationwide’s participation much more personal.

By putting their considerable energy behind support for the LilaBean Foundation for Pediatric Brain Cancer Research, which specializes in treatment and research of pediatric brain cancer, Nationwide and the St. Michaels Running Festival organizers hope to galvanize runners who really want to make a personal impact on this tragic disease. According to Peter Paris, founder of the St. Michaels Running Festival, “…one of the best things about working with runners is witnessing their unbelievable sense of community spirit and dedication to good causes”. Peter’s partner in the event, Sparrow Rogers points out the impact that partners like Nationwide can make: “What Nationwide is really doing is putting the challenge out there – to their employees, other runners and to other companies – to make a difference. It’s one thing to talk about caring, it’s quite another thing to mobilize a workforce behind a particular cause or the general principle of supporting a community. What Nationwide is doing is beyond admirable – it is inspiring!”

This year’s St. Michaels Running Festival will have several thousand participants and is projected to raise tens of thousands of dollars for good causes. With any luck, children suffering from cancer will be on the receiving end of this support – along with many others. According to Paris, “This is not just a story about a running event, it is a story of incredible friendship and people coming together in ways that have real and meaningful impact. This is one of the reasons I run.”

For more details about the St. Michaels Running Festival, the Nationwide story or the Lila Bean Foundation, please call or email at:
Sparrow Rogers
St. Michaels Running Festival
sparrow@runstm.com
www.runstm.com
571-213-2519

Nationwide
Michele E. Lombard
Regional Marketing Lead – Mid-Atlantic Distribution
lombarm@nationwide.com
Office 804- 675-3708 Cell 443- 758-4801

Lilabean Foundation for Pediatric Brain Cancer Research
Nicole Giroux
www.lilabeanfoundation.com
nrath13@hotmail.com
301-404-3556