With a goal in mind, though, Teresa Glover began taking to the
streets for six-mile runs a few times a week. She joined Team In
Training, a program sponsored by the Leukemia
&
amp; Lymphoma Society, as a way to make sure she stayed
committed.
But all the hours under the hot Gilroy sun didn’t come close to
the way Glover’s heart melted upon hearing the story of Madeline
and Marisa Chan.
GILROY
Teresa Glover didn’t know what she was getting into when she decided to run her first half-marathon.
It started simple. She had just turned 30 and felt it was time to get in better shape.
“I was not a runner. I hate running,” said Glover, a bartender at The Westside Grill in Gilroy.
With a goal in mind, though, she began taking to the streets for six-mile runs a few times a week. She joined Team In Training, a program sponsored by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, as a way to make sure she stayed committed.
But all the hours under the hot Gilroy sun didn’t come close to the way Glover’s heart melted upon hearing the story of Madeline and Marisa Chan.
Sitting next to the three-year-old twin girls at last summer’s Team In Training kick-off party, Glover was stunned to find out Madeline, a girl about the same age as Glover’s daughter, Makayla, had been battling leukemia since she was just 14 months old.
The twins’ mother, Elaine, was one of many in the audience to stand up and talk about how cancer had affected her family. Madeline had been undergoing chemotherapy for nearly three years straight, and, because the girls are twins, Marisa was at risk to have similar health problems.
“I pretty much bawled through the whole thing,” Glover said.
That sad story, which started with Glover’s tears, has now grown into a friendship and connection with the Chan family that will last a lifetime. Glover ended up raising $1,200 for the half-marathon in San Francisco last fall, championing the cause to just about anyone who would listen.
“A lot of people say it’s such an inspiration for [them] to know someone who’s gone through this,” Elaine said. “But being the mom of a child who’s gone through this, it’s so much more of an inspiration to see someone like Teresa do this.
“It’s a great thing when you see someone who really has no personal connection to this cause … It’s one of those things that’s going to tie us together forever.”
Glover’s commitment to helping raise money for LLS, and, in effect, help the Chan family amongst others, is currently being renewed. She is hosting a charity raffle tonight at 6 p.m. at Westside Grill (8080 Santa Teresa Blvd. # 100), which will give away an authentic San Jose Sharks jersey signed by every member of this past season’s team. Donated by Sharks Mailroom Coordinator Rich Perez, the jersey has already brought in more than $650 dollars with tickets being sold at $10 apiece.
Glover’s goal this year is to raise $5,000 for LLS, an ambitious endeavor considering she will have to cover the difference of any money she doesn’t raise through the raffle and sponsors for half-marathons she intends to run in the coming months. Glover has even recruited her husband, Brian, to join her in the half-marathons and match the money total she is trying to raise. Their 13-year-old son, Darrien, has pitched in by selling Gatorade to other runners during training sessions.
With family and friends who have been affected by other forms of cancer, Glover said helping this cause now and in the future is a foregone conclusion.
“I knew that I would be doing it for a long time, no matter if the girls are healthy the rest of their lives,” she said.
The Chans received news several months before last year’s marathon that Madeline’s cancer had gone into remission. She receives a checkup every two months, but the family is hopeful they can get through the next few years without a relapse or incident for both girls, which would drastically reduce the risk of being affected later in life.
“Madeline has kind of caught up to her sister’s height and they’re starting to look more and more alike,” Elaine said. “She smiles and plays just like a normal kid. You wouldn’t even know what she went through the past few years.”
Glover’s act of charity might not have started with a personal connection, but in the end, she said it doesn’t matter.
“I didn’t expect to get emotionally involved, but I did,” she said. “It’s so important not to take for granted your children’s health.”
