Happy New Year Everyone!

Some of you may remember that I've been raising money the past several years for an organization called the National Association of Children of Alcoholics (NACoA).  They are an organization which identifies and creates materials for educators and counselors to viably help children who have received the unlucky draw of living with a parent or parents suffering from alcohol or drug addiction.  The chaos in these households, due to the lack of dependability or outright emotional and physical abuse, is more pronounced during the holiday season, as you might expect.  Children living in households where substance abuse exists are 4 times more likely to suffer physical abuse than their peers, and 4 times more likely to develop mental illness as adults.  What is staggering is that we're talking about 1 in 4 American children.

I have been very fortunate over the past couple years to be able to represent NACoA as one of their athletes, raising awareness for them through my involvement in Walt Disney's Goofy Challenge -- an event where I run a half marathon (13.1 miles) on one day, and then a full marathon (26.2 miles) the next day.  I'm doing it again this year, but have the additional honor of being one of NACoA's running coaches -- helping people train and pace for these challenges.  All of our training will be tested this January 10th and 11th in Disney.  In several cases this will be the first marathon or half-marathon these individuals have completed, so it is a huge honor to be a part of their achievement.

Aside from the change in my role for NACoA, there is another big difference this year: an anonymous donor is matching each dollar we raise.  That means whatever money you are able to donate will go twice as far!  This is a pretty big deal.  If you were to pledge $1 for each mile I run, for instance, that normally would mean $39.30 -- but this year, that money turns into $78.60!  That's a lot of good karma :)

I would like to publicly thank the individuals and organizations that have pledged or donated offline thus far: David Tafuri, Dr. Alan Weinstein, Don & Dianna Dixon, Bob & Rhonda Young, Stefan Eckart, Darrin Nye, and Karin Stewart.

Contributing to NACoA is tax deductible for you and the money does a lot of good beyond that.  Besides their direct support of kids too young for groups like Al-anon or Alateen, NACoA also administers the national research database for the U.S. Department of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (SAMHSA), providing access to prevention and treatment materials, as well as the text of over a hundred thousand government funded research studies, policy papers and speeches.  NACoA insures that access to this database is FREE and searchable by anyone with internet access.  This is a great resource for treatment professionals and researchers interested in helping vulnerable children become emotionally healthy citizens.

There are a lot of people who struggle with alcohol and/or drug addiction, and one of the saddest aspects of this multi-dimensional disease is the effect it has on children.  I hope I haven't junked up your mailbox with my fundraising letter! -- There are so many ways to do good and share the love this new year, I hope I'm simply offering you one more option among many.   If you decide to help me raise money for NACoA, the most efficient way to do it is right here online.  Alternatively, you can write a check payable to NACoA, and contact me to make arrangements for pickup.  Any amount you can provide is a blessing.

If you have any questions about my involvement with NACoA, marathon running, sobriety, goofiness, or anything else, you can reach me at stefan.densmore@gmail.com, or by calling my cell phone at (513) 379-8992.  I hope you are all well, thank you for your consideration of this worthy cause, and God Bless!

Stefan Christian Densmore