By: Frank Purcell, Comcast Senior Director, Product Marketing & Sales
As both a 24-year Comcast employee and a 12-year cancer survivor, I was especially proud to lead one of the employee teams that participated in last weekend’s Big Climb Philly event. This was the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) stair-climbing challenge hosted at the city’s tallest skyscraper: The Comcast Center. Over one thousand people raised donations to participate before taking on 1,092 steps to finish at arguably the best view in town. I was joined by nearly 100 of my Comcast colleagues and dozens of survivors, many who formed into teams and enjoyed friendly competitions all across the city.
I was beyond excited when I learned that Comcast was going to host the LLS inaugural Big Climb event on the east coast in honor of Duncan Glew, a teenager whose family moved here from Seattle so that he could be treated at CHOP. The Big Climb in Seattle is in its 30th year and prior to moving Duncan was the honored hero for that city’s event. With Duncan’s inspiring story of survival plus the support of so many colleagues from my Comcast Family, the Big Climb Philly brought so much that I’m passionate about together in a single place.
Frank is pictured far right with team members
I am always on board for supporting LLS, whose research grants are funding breakthroughs every year—many right here in Philadelphia research hospitals. Living in this area it is easy to take for granted the extraordinary medical care we have access to. You never know when you or a family member will need to rely on groundbreaking medical treatment so I love seeing local companies pay it forward by supporting events such as The Big Climb. In addition to hosting the event, Comcast’s employee teams raised over $14,000. Further, employee volunteers staffed water stops every ten floors and helped manage traffic, kicking off a week of volunteer events all over the globe that will culminate in Comcast Cares Day on April 30th. Comcast Cares Day is the largest single-day corporate volunteer effort in the country.
The climb overall blew past a $250,000 fundraising goal to raise an astounding $318,000–and counting! Donations can still be made by visiting www.bigclimbphilly.org. Every step, every dollar brings us closer to our goal of finding a cure and improving the quality of life for everyone impacted by blood cancer.
