Nine members and seven alumni members representing the Eta Gamma Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa at Coffeyville Community College participated in the annual St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Marathon in Memphis December 1.  The weekend event raised a total of $5.7 million for the hospital with $4,104 raised by chapters of the Kansas Region including the CCC Chapter.  A total of fifty-nine representatives from the Kansas Region assisted in some way with the marathon.  Running the 5K, whose course went through the St. Jude’s grounds, were Eta Gamma members Dalton Lockwood, Kyle Darnell, Caitlin Shepard, and Representatives Melinda Carr and Phillip Hagebusch.

While at the marathon, members of the Eta Gamma Chapter displayed a poster honoring the life of Will Canan, grandson of former Coffeyville residents Mr. and Mrs. Joe Levy and a former St. Jude patient.  Will was diagnosed in 2004 at the age of 6 and received care at St. Jude from 2009-11.  While at St. Jude, he participated in clinical trials for his type of cancer.  Will lost his battle with Medulloblastoma in October of 2012 at the age of 14.

For the first time in the three years of the project, members had the opportunity to tour the hospital, an experience noted by Eta Gamma members as “unforgettable.”  Of the Coffeyville group, Kyle Darnell and Caitlin Shepard were recognized as St. Jude Heroes.  This event also offered an opportunity for the Kansas Region to fellowship with the Tennessee Region in a combined team appropriately named Tenn-Kan.

Representing Coffeyville Community College were:  Dalton Lockwood, Kyle Darnell, Caitlin Shepard, Melanie Davis, Kacie Serrault, Aaron Neely, Nick Mendy, Laura Lyons, and Eric Mueller. Alumni members Jeremy Willard from the University of Kansas, Michael Frazier from Missouri Southern University, and Alex Black, Megan Hoppenstadt, Stephanie Miller and Jacy Bach from Pittsburg State University and Phillip Hagebusch from Emporia State University also participated.