Date: 8/4/2022
Tags: Health
“Cancer cannot cripple love, it cannot shatter hope, it cannot conquer the spirit.” - Unknown
I find it amazing how a single event can influence one’s life. On Saturday, July 23, we were presented with an opportunity to attend such an event, as we joined over 1,000 participants at the 20th Annual “Goombay Bash” down on Navy Pier. Beth, Danny and Kelly Tischler have recommended this event to us several times in the past, and this year we felt a personal need to be part of this fundraising gathering.
The Goombay Bash, presented by “the H foundation,” promotes the event as a “Caribbean Festival to Find a Cure for Cancer,” and monies raised by this event are designated for basic Cancer research at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. The Tischler’s have been part of this effort for over 20 years: Danny is a member of the Board of Directors, Beth is on the Advisory Board, and Kelly, besides her leadership of our local “Cancer Smashers” here in Darien, serves as a member of the Goombay Committee. To know a Darien family so dedicated to making a difference in fighting cancer makes me proud to know that such selfless and dedicated individuals are not only Darien residents; Cathy and I are happy to call them friends.
As a family that has been touched by cancer, we felt a series of emotions throughout our evening at the event. While we heard stories of individuals touched by cancer, we saw the strength of the human spirit in overcoming and not allowing cancer to dictate their life. We met a number of individuals besides the Tischlers who are dedicated to finding a cure for cancer, and their efforts that evening led to raising over 1 million dollars through this event, the highest amount in the twenty-years the event has taken place.
The greatest lesson we learned that evening was that “God didn’t promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, or sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.” Thank you to the Tischler family, and all those involved at the H foundation for an evening that truly touched our lives.