DeWitt, NY -- Amy Pole, a Wellwood Middle School counselor who is successfully battling a malignant brain tumor, feels so much better than she did a year ago that she wanted to devote some of her reclaimed energy to raising money for research. So, she and her husband and young son are ready to walk three miles in the...
View full sizeAmy Pole and her son, Jack, are having fun with some homemade Play-Doh at their house in DeWitt. It's one of the recipes in a cookbook Amy is selling to raise money for brain tumor research. Amy is recovering from a brain tumor and will be participating in the Jimmy Fund walk with the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston on Sept. 12th. They are wearing their team shirts. DeWitt, NY -- Amy Pole, a Wellwood Middle School counselor who is successfully battling a malignant brain tumor, feels so much better than she did a year ago that she wanted to devote some of her reclaimed energy to raising money for research.
So, she and her husband and young son are ready to walk three miles in the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk on Sept. 12 to raise money for adult brain tumor research.
Pole, 32, of DeWitt, and 55 supporters known as Team Amy’s Army, have raised more than $15,000 already and expect to hit $22,000 by next weekend. Her team will walk with the larger Team Neuro, which includes Dana-Farber Cancer Institute doctors and nurses and which has raised nearly $70,000 to date.
She said she’s been blessed with tremendous community support since her diagnosis, and she wants to give back.
Pole, who is on medical leave for another year from the Fayetteville-Manlius school district, had surgery to remove a tennis-ball-size tumor found in 2009, then had chemotherapy and radiation.
She said she is doing well. A “blueberry-size” regrowth disappeared after recent radiation, and Pole continues to receive chemotherapy every three weeks at Dana-Farber in Boston. “I feel great, and I’m able to do just about everything,” she said. Pole, whose son, Jack, is 2½, she said she revels in the everyday moments.
The Jimmy Fund Walk aims to raise $6.3 million for cancer research.
Amy Pole is selling this cookbook to raise money for brain cancer research. Part of the money the Poles have helped to raise comes from the sale of a $20 cookbook, “Cookstrong,” compiled by Amy Pole and her mom. The two spent nine months collecting recipes from students, well-wishers and medical providers. Pole included family photos, meaningful quotes, anecdotes and the story of her battle against cancer.
The cookbook idea sprang from Amy and Kevin Pole’s wedding, where they collected recipes from those who attended and then gave everyone a cookbook as favors. This new 248-page cookbook, with more than 400 recipes, “has given me so much positive energy,” Pole said.
Contact Elizabeth Doran at edoran@syracuse.com or 470-3012.
To donate
Visit www.jimmyfundwalk.org and click on Support A Walker and then Amy, Kevin or Jack Pole. To order Amy Pole’s “Cookstrong” cookbook for $20, send an e-mail to teamamysarmy@gmail.com.