Cancer Crushers 5k & 1 Mile Walk

The Cancer Crushers 5k & 1 Mile Walk is the FIRST organized run on the new Albany County Rail Trail! Join us for a beautiful 5k run or lesiure 1 mile walk along the beautiful rail trail. 

This event, organized by Corina Santoro, will raise money to support families struggling with the financial impacts of battling cancer. Money raised this year will support Ellie Hall Minnis. Ellie is Corina's mom, who was recently diagnosed with oral cancer...the same kind of oral cancer that killed Corina's dad years earlier.

Cancer is intense. Emotionally, physically, psychologically...and financially. Even with insurance, medical bills are in the thousands. And just when you most need money, cancer robs you of your ability to work and you lose your income as well. Cancer strips you bare. Cancer is personal for me.

In my mid 20s, my uncle died of cancer.
In my late 20s, my father died of cancer.
Now, 14 years later, a very dear friend is battling cancer.
Now, 14 years later, my mom is battling cancer.

I have personally seen the toll cancer takes on a family. And this time, I am doing something about it. I've organized a CancerCrushers 5k and 1 mile walk to raise money for families struggling with the financial burdens of battling cancer. Proceeds from this run will be donated to a new family each year.

This year, I'm also establishing this race to raise money for my mom, Ellie Hall Minnis.

A little about my mom.

My mom grew up in Long Island, New York. At a mere 19 years old, she met my father, Peter Hall, in Venice Beach, California. From 1974 to 1980, they had three daughters, me (Corina), Eden and Anna. 

My parents devoted their lives to the church and serving others. They cared deeply about the lives around them and touched many. In 2001, At the age of 61, my father was diagnosed with cancer. At the age of 62, he was dead. Having always given all they had to serving others, my mother was left with nothing, barely enough money to move back across the country to Ithaca, NY, where her sister lived.

Cancer had stripped her bare, and out of the ashes, she rebuilt her life.

In Ithaca, she met and married my stepfather, Neil Minnis. Neil, a kind and wonderful man, has proved to be a rock for our family. My mom built a new life of happiness in a community she loves. She continued giving back to others, working at various nursing homes and at Catholic Charities.

In March of this year, my mom was diagnosed with cancer – the same kind of oral cancer that killed my dad. Her cancer treatments are debilitating and Neil has taken a leave of absence from work to help care for her. Once again, cancer is stripping her bare. She faces daily radiation and periodic chemo. The treatments are destroying her tongue and throat, so she eats through a feeding tube. There will be irreparable dental damage. There will be hearing loss. The medical bills, already huge, will only continue to grow. Through it all, she smiles, she perseveres, she is determined to crush this cancer.

Cancer hits hard, but through CancerCrushers we will help her hit back harder.

Any donation, no matter how small, helps. Together, we are CancerCrushers! Thank you for your generosity.

With much gratitude,

Corina Santoro