By Jack Reinhard | @JohnJackReinhard

The Warren County Technical School Key Club recently hosted a run/walk to assist Free to Breathe, a national non-profit lung cancer research and advocacy organization in their fight to increase lung cancer survival. The current lung cancer survival rate sits at a low 17 percent. Free to Breathe is working diligently along with the help of various communities to double this rate by 2022.

The run/walk featured giveaways, kid’s activities, as well as guest speaker and lung cancer survivor Jim Dennison who spoke of his battle with the disease. Dennison noted that “lung cancer takes more lives than breast, colon and prostate cancers combined.”

He emphasized how researchers have “all the tools to research and discover what goes on in lung cancer, but there is no money.” That is why they Key Club hopes that the $2,942 that they raised along with the efforts of others will help.

Even though there is a very high mortality rate for lung cancer, Dennison encouraged those experiencing it themselves or have a loved one going through it to “stay positive” and that “it is a battle that needs a great attitude.”

The whole idea for the run/walk originated from Key Club advisor Patricia Seugling, who had lost her mother-in-law to lung cancer without ever having the chance to meet her. Seugling, the mother of a two-year-old son, frequently wonders what kind of grandmother her mother-in-law would have been. This is one of the many reasons why she felt that the run/walk would be a “worthwhile cause.”

Free to Breathe of Northern New Jersey will be holding more events to benefit lung cancer research. On July 15th at Bernie’s Hillside Lounge in Chester, there will be a benefit concert starring the Above Ground Blues Band. On October 1st, there will be the 8th annual Free to Breathe Walk at Horseshoe Lake in Succasunna.

For more information on Free to Breathe, please visit their website, freetobreathe.org.