Celebrating Early Onset Colon Cancer Research with the Lyons Family and Olympus
This month, we are proud to highlight the exceptional efforts of the Lyons Family and the team from Olympus Corporation of the Americas for their event, the Jake Lyons Memorial ‘Cancer Sucks’ Golf Classic, held on September 21, 2015. Both the Lyons Family and Olympus have done an amazing job to support efforts in early onset cancer research in memory of Jake Lyons, an incredible young man and Olympus employee, who passed away far too soon at age 31.
Jake was a loving son, brother, husband and father who spread smiles and laughter to those close to him. His love for golf and raising colon cancer awareness inspired him to organize the ‘Cancer Sucks’ Golf Classic. After Jake passed in early 2014, his family, friends and Olympus colleagues came together to keep his memory alive through the event and continue the tradition.
In 2015, for the first time, the Jake Lyons Memorial ‘Cancer Sucks’ Classic was held in three different locations on the same day. We joined Jake’s immediate family, friends and community members in Atlanta and raised an astonishing $30,000 to fund young onset colon cancer research!
The Golf Classic’s second location was Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania and was spearheaded by Jake’s colleagues at Olympus’ corporate headquarters. In addition to the traditional golf event, employees could participate as a “Virtual Golfer,” which brought support for the event in from all over the country. Our Vice President of Development Nicole Sheahan was happy to join the Olympus team in Center Valley for the successful event that contributed more than $22,000 to the Colon Cancer Alliance’s Blue Hope Research Award. A third tournament in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota also raised over $3,000.
“Honoring Jake’s memory through three ‘Cancer Sucks’ tournaments and our national virtual golfer initiative has a great impact on raising awareness about the importance of screening and detection,” Lauren Goff, Executive Director, Corporate Social Responsibility at Olympus said. “2015 was a record-breaking year in terms of both participation and dollars raised, but best of all, it reminded our employees of how we can be involved directly in battling this disease. More and more of our U.S. locations want to get involved hosting tournaments in the future!”
Through their tandem golf tournaments, the Lyons Family and Olympus raised more than $55,000, which will fund a Blue Hope Research Award in 2016. We send our sincerest thanks to the Lyons Family and the Olympus team for their exceptional events and we can’t wait to be involved with them next year!
For more information, check out the Golf Classic website.
If you would like to donate to the Colon Cancer Alliance or have an idea for a fundraiser, please contact Alison Ornitz at 202-628-0123 ex. 109. Don’t forget, the Colon Cancer Alliance serves as a source of information about colon health. If you have additional questions about colon cancer or are in need of support, please contact our free Helpline at (877) 422-2030. We’re here to help.