We are hosting an annual walk/jog/run event supporting a local pet and their owners in need. The event will benefit local families that need to save their dog but can't afford the procedure.
The race will now be virtual for everyone's safety.
100% percent of all fundraising, donations, and proceeds from the Walk Your Dog For K9 Cancer will benefit Kola's fight against cancer and fund her radiation procedure.
THE RACE WILL BE IN PERSON!! You can participate virtually but we will be having an in person race!
We will be starting an endowment and awarding the money annually starting in 2021 to a family in need that cannot cover the expense of saving their dog from cancer. ANYONE is welcome to apply! The cost of going through chemotherapy, radiation, mri, etc.. starts at $7,000 and can exceed $20,000. Our goal is to save at least 1 dog every year and hopefully as the race grows will be able to save multiple dogs and help multiple families every year.
For those of you who know our rescue dog Kola you know that she has always been a healthy, super energetic and playful dog. When we noticed a lack a energy in her around Memorial Day we weren't sure whether something was wrong or if her never ending puppy energy was finally starting to wind down.
About 2 months ago we noticed a small dent on the top left part of Kola's head that seemed to have come about overnight. After a few weeks the dent grew to the size of an egg and shortly after that another egg size dent appeared on her right side. We took her to the vet the first morning after noticing the regression on her head and have since gone to 5 vets including Ohio State, MedVet, a holistic vet and 2 locals vets to confirm/refute the initial diagnosis and find the best value for getting her treated.
What we found is that she has cancer effecting her 5th nerve ending which is causing the muscle dystrophy however we were so excited to hear that the vets believe this is easily curable with radiation and that she will have many more years to live a healthy and great life! Then we asked how much it would cost and the response was staggering $10,000-13,000!
We have been trying tireously to figure out a way to come up with the money for the procedure and sadly have had to halt with moving forward until we have the needed money. In the meantime we have switched Kola over to a raw diet and a plethora of supplements. The amount of time and money in this is staggering in itself.
With the cost of getting Kola treated, vet bills already accrued and the raw diet we are in need of financial help. In a normal year this would not be a problem as Oliver owns a successful sports and race event business and I (Ashley) am a high school math teacher. COVID unfortunately has shut down Oliver's business as mass gatherings are limited to 10 people and permits are not being issued for 5k (or any distance) race events so no money has come in all year. Fortunately I am still employed but we are now both living off of a teacher's salary which is not enough to afford the procedure.
UPDATE: We unfortunately did not reach our goal in time and had to put Kola down. This has been an extremely difficult time for us and we don't want anyone to have to go through this if we can help it so we are starting an endowment to help a family in need. Thank you to everyone who has helped us along the way, your support will in turn help so many families over the coming years. We love you all!
Ashley & Oliver
To give now please visit:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-save-our-kola-girl
-Masks will be required for all participants except for on the run
-Masks will be worn by all race staff and volunteers
-There will be hand sanitizing stations throughout the start/finish and packet pickup areas as well as at each water station on course
-The on course water station will be bottled water with no attendant or open cups of water
-Packet pickup will be contact-less. All bags will be pre-packed, labeled and set out in alphabetical order for participants to quickly retrieve their swag
-You will take all of your goodies/swag with you prior to the run starting
-The run will begin individually and in small group (family/spouse/etc..) waves every 10+ seconds with the maximum group size limited to 10 people
-Marks on the ground for social distancing will be enforced during packet pick and starting the race
-Anyone who has COVID-19 will not be able to attend nor participate in the event. Additionally anyone who has come into contact with anyone who has or had COVID-19 within the past 21 days will not be able to attend nor participate. This includes participants, race staff and volunteers.
To donate now please visit:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-save-our-kola-girl
For more information feel free to call or email: