Fundraising/Philanthropy

Chad Berg Age 15 Diagnosis: Hypothermia and cardiac arrest Shoe: Air Force 1 Last January, Chad Berg took a spill in his kayak and spent 90 minutes in the icy water. By the time he was rescued, he was in full cardiac arrest with no pulse and an internal temperature of 73 degrees. Essentially, he was lifeless. But Chad’s doctors weren’t about to let that happen. After nearly three hours of CPR in Albany, the … Read More

Grant Olsen Age: 11 Diagnosis: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia Shoe: Free Run +2 When Grant Olsen was six years old, his mom and dad found a lump in his neck that turned out to be leukemia. “I was shell-shecked when I found out,” said his mom, Karen. “But that first day, Grant’s doctor spent four hours with us explaning things even though he was so busy. That’s the kind of care we got all the way … Read More

Oswaldo Jimenez Age: 11 Diagnosis: Severe pulmonary hypertension Shoe: Air Jordan 9 Retro Fierce. Strong. Fearless. Just like a … chicken. Yep, Oswaldo Jimenez has a power animal, and it just happens to be a scrappy pollito, or “little chicken.” He earned the moniker because of his puckish eating habits as a toddler and the name stuck. Last December, after a series of fainting spells, Oswaldo was given a life-changing diagnosis: severe pulmonary hypertension. The … Read More

Autumn Boynton Age: 10 Diagnosis: Bilateral Wilms’ tumors in kidneys & abdomen Shoe: Air Max 90 Watching Autumn and her dad together is like watching two best friends sharing an inside joke – but behind all that frivolity and fun is a story of sacrifice and love. Billy and Autumn were living in Bend when she was diagnosed with kidney cancer in the spring of 2005. When the weekly trips for treatment became too grueling, … Read More

As the Creative Director of Global Brand Presentations for Nike, my role is to create, direct, produce and stage product and marketing presentations internally and externally to retailers, Sales Associates and media among others. I was invited to join the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital Foundation board 10 years ago to bring this experience and a fresh perspective to some past fundraising events, hoping to raise awareness and more funds for the hospital. It was my then … Read More

On June 24, 2010, after weeks of watching our son suffer from severe headaches, our local doctors found a “mass” on the right side of Liam’s brain. That mass turned out to be a cancerous brain tumor, 7 centimeters in diameter, called aniplastic ependymoma. Within hours, the staff at Doernbecher was prepping Liam (and us) for surgery. Over the next five months, Liam endured three major surgeries and 33 rounds of radiation treatments at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. … Read More

Two of the many things that I fell in love with when I moved from Boston to Portland six years ago was the city’s sense of community pride and its spirit of generosity. Acts of kindness and goodwill are seen every day in so many ways. It’s such a genuine and unique characteristic of our city that the TV show “Portlandia” pokes fun at it. Another fixture of Portland, also featured on “Portlandia,” is the … Read More