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Dad’s Trek to End T1D

1 hundred miles…to end T1D

Be the Progress. Be the Momentum. Be the Cure.

Dear Friends, Supporters and many Team LILLYLULU Teammates,

On behalf of my family, TEAM LILLYLULU and JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), I would like to thank you for helping to make 2017 a most amazing, life changing and moving year in terms of creating awareness, raising money for advancing treatments and finding a cure for type 1 diabetes (“T1D”) through the “A Dad’s 100 Mile Trek”.

As many of you know, my oldest daughter, Lilly (16), was diagnosed with T1D on April 9, 2015. As we promised we would, our family jumped in head first to make an impact. We created TEAM LILLYLULU as our JDRF Team for the One Walk on October 2015 (our first event) which consisted of the Lashar, Varholak, and Frank ladies, Briggs Rowley (T1D-16) and me.

Since that 2015 One Walk, TEAM LILLYLULU has grown and now consists of an amazing group of family, friends, classmates, field hockey and lacrosse teammates, strangers, co-workers, new friends, clients, fisherman and some crazy endurance people that have supported us like nothing we could have ever imagined. We are now a walk team, a marathon team (NYC, Boston and Chicago), a Reach the Beach team, East School team, a Gala team, a Winston Flowers Charity in Bloom team, a fishing team and now A Dad’s 100 Mile Trek Team.

Through our collective efforts, we have been part of fundraising that exceeds $900,000 as well as in-kind support for JDRF through all of these events. These events have been anchored by the 2016 Big Game Battle (“BGB”) Invitational Fishing Tournament in Nantucket held August 11-13, 2016 (over $350,000 raised) and the 2017 A Dad’s100 Mile Trek which raised over $380,000 in 2017 (over 250 donors)! Aside from the Trek highlight last summer, Lilly presented the “2017 Lilly Lashar Pay It Forward Award” at the BGB to Jack Diamond (also 1st Place boat-MacBeth as 2017 Team Champions) who follows the 2016 winner Kevin White. The award is PRESENTED TO THE PERSON OR TEAM THAT BEST REPRESENTS SELFLESSNESS, COMPASSION, SUPPORT AND LEADERSHIP OF OTHERS’ AGENDA BY GIVING MORE THAN THEY TAKE WITH GRACE, CLASS AND HUMILITY. Kevin and Jack are the epitome of making an impact for others and an example for our family to follow.

In last February’s Trek launch letter, I asked the following question: “How do we replicate last year’s effort and impact in 2017 and beyond?” We successfully found the answer! As many of you know, the Dad’s 100 Mile Trek took a bit of a physical toll and we have decided to launch a modified version in the form of a relay Dad’s 100 Mile Trek for teams consisting of between 2 and 5 people (this was a negotiated settlement versus another solo Trek or no Trek at all). Our goal is to recruit up to 10 teams for the 2018 A Dad’s 100 Mile Trek to help broaden the awareness and capture the amazing enthusiasm of our collective journey from last summer (information enclosed).

Lilly continues to inspire our family by doing her part to fight through every single day. What has Lilly done in the face of her T1D diagnosis? She is a great friend, hard-working student, member of Hingham and Laxachussetts lacrosse, member of HHS winter track team, Hingham’s 2016 Project 351 Ambassador and 2017, 2018 Alumni Designee, 2017-2020 HHS Global Citizenship Certificate Program, 2015-2016 HMS Willett & Burke School Citizenship Award winner, chosen member of the Boston Children’s Hospital T1D Teen Advisory Counsel, T1D Children’s Congress applicant, JDRF fundraiser, captain of TEAM LILLYLULU and most important, she is my hero and inspiration. Despite the grind of T1D, she understands the importance of being a voice for JDRF, all T1D’s now and in the future and advocating for herself. All the support and experience in the last three years has inspired us further and it remains our mission to do everything we can as a family toward finding a cure for Lilly, all those diagnosed with the disease, and those that will be in the future.

This Team relay event will be TEAM LILLYLULU’s signature contribution to JDRF in 2018, and our primary focus for raising funds and awareness for T1D. The Dad’s 100 Trek TEAM Trek will start at the Sagamore Bridge at sunrise on June 28, 2018 and will end when the last TEAM reaches the town pier in Provincetown with at least 100 miles under all their feet combined. The team application outlines the information required to join and requested fundraising minimum. The goal is to expand the Dad’s 100 Mile TREK, to keep it informal and at zero cost to JDRF. Based upon the success of the inaugural Dad’s 100 Mile Trek, we have dreams and aspire to this being a signature JDRF event someday in the future. 2018 will be a key barometer on our ability to scale the enthusiasm and love from 2017.

To donate offline, please send a check to JDRF, Attn: A Dad’s Trek to End T1D, 60 Walnut Street, Wellesley Hills, MA 02481. To join the relay and apply for a team, please fill out the application and email it back to me at john.lashar@cbre.com.

You can also follow TEAM LILLYLULU and JDRF on Instagram. We are very excited to attempt to roll out the Dad’s 100 Mile Trek in this format and to share what was a life changing experience last summer with others. In anticipation of another unique experience and on behalf of Debi, Lilly, Lucy, Lindsay and the rest of our TEAM LILLYLULU teammates, I want to thank you for your continued support of our mission of T1DNONE. It is the support of those around us that keeps us moving forward.

We are looking forward to sharing this experience with you. We are thankful for your support, encouragement and wishes.

Regards,
John Lashar

“ADVERSITY DOESN’T DEFINE CHARACTER, IT REVEALS IT” -James Lane Allen
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