An arc of balloons at the Homestead Schoolhouse on Woodstock Boulevard marked the gathering of competitors, on May 3rd, before the start of a Half Marathon and 5K Race to raise money for “B Strong”, a local nonprofit benefiting mothers with cancer. (Photo by Elizabeth Ussher Groff)

An arc of 100 balloons floated over the 42nd Avenue unimproved right-of-way, as two hundred fifty people slowly gathered at the Homestead Schoolhouse at 4121 S.E. Woodstock Boulevard on Saturday morning, May 3rd.

Parents, children, grandparents, and cancer therapy supporters were there to celebrate “B Strong” – the name of a nonprofit organization that supports young mothers with cancer.

Woodstock resident Brittnie Gray – in her fourth year of surviving lymphoma, and the mother of two (born in 2020 and 2023) – was hosting, with her husband Tim, a fundraiser Half Marathon and 5K Race – to benefit this nonprofit they founded four years ago.

THE BEE reported in April of 2022 that Brittnie was receiving a relatively new cancer treatment at OHSU called CAR-T Cell Therapy, a type of immunotherapy. Now she is strong and cancer free, and “B Strong” has raised $100,000 over four of those years to provide social and emotional support to other mothers with cancer. Two months ago, “B Strong” put together a Board of Directors.

At the Homestead Schoolhouse, where Brittnie once worked, pre-marathon excitement grew on that recent Saturday morning, as more and more people poured onto the unimproved Woodstock street, and the backyard of the preschool.

Before the fundraising run started, two short speeches were made on the  back porch of the preschool.  Keren McCord – an adult oncology social worker at OHSU for twenty years, and now on the board of “B Strong” – told the crowd that the nonprofit makes it possible for cellular therapy patients at OHSU, provided they have a 24-hour family or friend caregiver, to receive two weeks of social and emotional support following CAR-T Cell Therapy.

“Young mothers who get a cancer diagnosis say that it is often emotionally unbearable, surreal, and upends their lives”, McCord told the gathering. Of course this is true for all of those with a cancer diagnosis, but “B Strong” focuses exclusively on mothers who are struggling.

Brittnie and Tim followed McCord’s remarks by describing what it had been like to be a household with a young mother with lymphoma. Brittnie told the crowd, “Let’s raise money for the next mom with cancer! Kids of all ages and adults have been spending several months getting pledges.”

Later, the couple told THE BEE: “The Half Marathon went through Eastmoreland, Sellwood, Westmoreland, Garthwick, out to the City of Milwaukie, then back. The 5K went through Woodstock and Eastmoreland. Together, they raised $33,000.00.”  In the course of the last year, an additional $31,000 was raised by “B Strong” for social and emotional support for mothers with cancer.

Sponsors of the May 3rd races included: Ment Architecture LLC; Lulu Food Place truck; Ferguson Wellman Capital Management; Therapeutic Associates Physical Therapy; UH Alumni; Integrity Home Loans; The Green Microgym; Konner Fralia Real Estate; and Otto’s Sausage Kitchen.

If BEE readers want to contribute to this nonprofit, go online to – https://www.bstrongpdx.com, and click on the “donate” button in the upper right corner of the home page.