A MESSAGE FROM Team Parker Fundraising
Exercise is my medicine. In fact, it is what saved my life. What was once dance which turned into powerlifting which has become running has consistently taken me to a spiritual place and given me an opportunity to heal from the suffering I have witnessed and experienced. It's taught me to never quit and to keep going even when things are really hard. It's my metaphor for life and what allows me to feel.
Addiction is what taught me how to love. It has ripped my heart out and put it back together more times than I can count. And my guess is, it will do it again many more times in this life. Watching what addiction has done to those I love the most in the world has broken me but movement has put me back together. And it has reminded me over and over, "don't quit five minutes before the miracle happens".
I am running the New York City marathon in 2023. But I am not just running it; I am running it for a cause that is near and dear to my heart which makes it all the more special.
I am running it for pops, Theresa, David, Mama, and anyone who has been personally affected or who's family has been broken by addiction.
Roy Parker ran his first first four marathons in the late 1970s. Little did he know, that he would be starting his longest marathon about twenty years later, on February 8, 1996. And that race is the race of sobriety. Today, he is over 27 years sober and still running that race that began when he went to treatment for his alcoholism and decided he wanted to live his life sober. Because he started, I got to grow up with a Dad. A Dad who never missed a dance performance of mine, a lacrosse game of my brothers or a horse show of my sisters. Since starting that race, he has run 16 more marathons to include the New York City Marathon several times. So this is to honor him. He says, "marathons saved my life and kept me sober". But what started it, was his desire to go into recovery and his access to getting treatment.
David Parker's race has started and stopped more times than I can count as most of those who suffer with addiction do. This is for him, my big brother, and the hope that he will one day choose the race for recovery.
Theresa Parker just began her marathon of sobriety after a hospitalization which almost resulted in her death earlier this year. Today, she's in treatment after almost dying from liver failure. This is for her and getting a chance to have my sister back.
This is for my mom. The other warrior in our family who has not personally suffered from addiction but has watched those she loves suffer. And, who has time and again stood by them and fought for them to receive treatment and come back to us.
This is so that those who could not otherwise receive treatment for their substance use disorders and mental illnesses can get a chance because their family members, like me, miss them and don't want them to quit, "five minutes before the miracle happens". I am running for all of you. For everyone who has been personally affected by addiction. In 2022, 109,680 people died of an overdose, the single highest record in a calendar year. Addiction is the leading cause of death in adults ages 18-45. Please consider donating to this cause that often gets overlooked but effects everyone in one form or another; and help me run the New York City Marathon in 2023 to help end addiction.
A little about the organization:
The Release Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to ensuring all who are ready and willing to seek professional treatment, are able. Substance Use Disorder and mental illness destroy the lives of too many people from underserved communities who may not have the resources for proven treatments. The Release Foundation offers scholarships to bridge the gap between what people can afford and what they need to transform their lives, regardless of race, gender, and/or sexual orientation.
