PoleVaultPower.com

Hello,

There will be a benefit pole vault competition near Grand Rapids, MI to raise money for the Josh Patterson family. Josh is a pole vaulter who recently graduated from Sparta, MI(near Grand Rapids). Josh was diagnosed with Leukemia the night of the Grand Haven Beach Vault and was hospitalized. He is currently undergoing chemo treatment at Butterworth Hospital for the next month and half, and you can just imagine the amount of medical bills that are piling up. All proceeds go directly to the family to offset medical bills. The site is tentatively set for Forest Hills Eastern HS. Information link can be found at:
http://www.grandhavenbeachvault.com

Thanks!

Coach Kevin Patterson(no relation)

Good luck with the competition, I hope it raises lots of money

^bump

A big Thank You to all who competed, helped, and donated today. We were able to raise $1927.00 for Josh Patterson and his family!

Results can be found at:

http://www.grandhavenbeachvault.com

KP

http://www.mlive.com/sports/grand-rapid ... _help.html

Pole vaulting 'brotherhood' helps out Sparta athlete who has leukemia
by Steve Vedder | The Grand Rapids Press
Monday August 17, 2009, 9:00 AM


Josh Patterson
GRAND RAPIDS -- As a two-time all-state pole vaulter, Josh Patterson understands the sport is more about brotherhood than it is about competition between vaulters.

If the 19-year-old recent Sparta graduate needed additional proof of that fact, all he had to do was gaze around a hot and muggy Sunday afternoon at Forest Hills Eastern High School.

There, he saw about 46 fellow pole vaulters from two dozen high schools as far away as Marine City, Port Huron and Harrison, who came together for the "Vault for Josh" fundraiser.

Patterson, who won O-K Blue and regional championships last season, was diagnosed this summer with APML, a form of adult leukemia. The fundraiser, organized by KP Athletics, helped with the expenses of a five-week hospital stay. The event raised $1,927.

He said he always has considered the pole vaulting community as a family, so having 46 of its members donate their time and money to his cause is a lifelong memory.

"It's a little overwhelming," Patterson said. "I thank them for all their support and prayers when I needed it. Just for being there."

Patterson, who has dropped from 162 to 137 pounds since treatment started, was set to vault in a beach competition this summer when he noticed bruising throughout his body and bleeding from his mouth.

Blood and bone marrow tests quickly revealed the APML, which Patterson already had suspected because of his own research. Doctors, who think they caught the disease relatively early, inserted a chemotheraphy drip.

The cure rate of APML is 90 percent and Patterson, who has sustained ulcers and sores in his throat and stomach, has responded well to treatment. His first bone marrow test showed a 70 percent saturation of the cancer, but a second test showed it had dropped to 9 percent just five days later.

The family was expecting a 0 percent score from a test administered today, said Jeff Patterson, Josh's father.

"Josh is a strong Christian, and the first words out of his mouth after we took him to the doctor were, 'I wonder how God will use this in my story,'" he said. "This disease won't change who he is."

Jeff Patterson said the family is "honored when we see the kind of love and appreciation" shown by the tight-knit pole vault community toward his son.

But that love and appreciation does not surprise Rockford pole vault coach Kevin Patterson, whose KP Athletics organization spearheaded the fundraiser.

Patterson, who is of no relation to Josh, said pole vaulters are extremely close. They carry each other's poles at events, catch them after jumps, freely exchange tips on how to improve and routinely root for each other.

When someone needs help, Patterson said the rest quickly rally to the cause.

"It's truly a family," he said. "Someone needs help, and they all respond and take care of them. Two weeks ago, we set this up and people have come out. I know a lot of people in the state, and even nationally, and I knew they would respond."

Rockford state pole vault champion Sarah Birkmeier was one of Sunday's participants.

Birkmeier said when she heard of the event, she already knew where she needed to be.

"It was a no-brainer," Birkmeier said. "I said I was going to come out no matter what to support Josh. He's part of the family."

Even pole vaulters whom Josh beat out for an O-K Blue title jumped at the chance to support him.

Cedar Springs' A.J. Olszewski, who narrowly was beaten out by Patterson for a conference title, is another competitor who used the word "family" to describe the pole vaulting community.

"I think we bond more," he said. "I know everyone from all the schools, and it's family. It's like we're brothers. I filled the form out (to compete Sunday) when I found out right away and sent it in.

"Pole vaulting is competitive, but it's more like a betterment. You want each other to excel. It's about helping the other person out -- that's the main thing."

http://www.mlive.com/sports/grand-rapid ... other.html

Lowell football players, other athletes will paint town pink to put spotlight on cancer
By The Grand Rapids Press
September 10, 2009, 11:00AM
T.J. Hamilton | The Grand Rapids Press
Lowell senior right tackle Zach Noskey, left, will wear a bright pink jersey with the name Patterson across the back in Friday's game against Union. The jersey's namesake, his 19-year-old cousin, Josh Patterson, right, is battling leukemia.
LOWELL -- Zach Noskey, a senior right tackle at Lowell, turned around, looked over his shoulder and presented the back of his bright pink jersey.
The name PATTERSON blazed across his shoulders, just above the No. 57. The jersey's namesake, his 19-year-old cousin, Josh Patterson, bald and thin after a second round of chemotherapy to combat leukemia, smiled.
That is what the Pink Arrow Project is all about.
That is why Lowell football coach Noel Dean began bathing the Red Arrows community in pink a year ago: To raise awareness of cancer and its devastating effects, and to show his team that there is more to life than winning football games.
For the second year in a row, the Red Arrows will become the Pink Arrows for a day. And when they take the field at 7 p.m. Friday, they will battle more than Union High School.

They also will take on cancer, wearing the name of a cancer victim or survivor on their jerseys, and hope to raise $250,000.
Admission is the purchase of a $15 hot-pink jersey -- a different color this year -- available at the gate Friday.
"We feel it's a privilege to use a simple thing like the game of football to acknowledge what all those affected by cancer have been through," Dean said. "We understand it even better this year. We know that the struggle they face is so much greater than anything we have to go through on the football field.
PINK ARROW FESTIVITIES
Friday at Lowell High School
• 2:30-6 p.m.: Festival featuring air bounce activities, face painting, grilling, thunder stix, sidewalk chalk painting, hole-in-one contests, softball and baseball fast-pitch contests.
• 2:30-4:30 p.m.: Rock concert by 50/50 Music.
• 3:30-4:30 p.m.: Lowell tennis team holds games for kids on the courts.
• 4:15 p.m.: Cross country meet -- Lowell hosts Holland and Creston, with finish in the football stadium.
• 4:30-5:30 p.m.: Local tennis pros Mike Rose, Adam Ford, Mike Hodge and Pat Bruining will play an exhibition.
• 5 p.m.: Volleyball match -- Lowell hosts Forest Hills Northern outdoors in the stadium.
• 6 p.m.: Parade from the high school to the football field.
• 7 p.m.: Football game kicks off against Union.
"Friday is going to be the biggest pink out in the history of pink. It's going to be a glorious."
Last year was pretty cool, too. The goal was to raise $15,000. They totaled about $104,000, beating visiting Holland 42-0 amid a sea of pink and plenty of emotion.
This year, it's bigger and better.
A communitywide pink-out begins at 2:30 p.m. with carnival-type, community-wide activities and culminates with the football game.
In between, the Lowell cross country team will race against Creston and Holland, finishing on the football field.
And the Lowell volleyball team, also clad in pink uniforms, will take on Forest Hills Northern at 5 p.m. in the first Michigan High School Athletic Association-sanctioned event outdoors.
This year's lofty goal, $250,000, is not out of reach. Already, about $150,000 has been raised or pledged.
The money again will go toward two scholarships -- the Kathy Talus Memorial Scholarship, named in honor of a former Lowell teacher and coach who lost her battle with breast cancer five years ago, and one in honor of longtime team physician, Dr. Donald Gerard -- as well as to the Lowell Wellness Center, assisting families in Lowell who have been touched by cancer.
The new twist this year is helping establish a Gilda's Club of Lowell, a place where anyone can go for free cancer support.
The Pink Arrow Project also helped support the renovation of the Lowell Senior Neighbors building where the club will be housed.
"You cannot play football by yourself, and you cannot battle cancer by yourself," said Leann Arkema, CEO of Gilda's Club of Grand Rapids. "It's a team, it's a community, and they are giving a life-changing gift to so many people.
"Friday night is more than a game."
That's exactly what a billboard on Alden Nash just south of I-96 says. It features those words --"more than a football game" -- along with a photo of pink-clad players in the game a year ago.
One of those pictured is then-junior Randy Hogan, who was playing in memory of his mother, Sandy Hogan, who died of cancer more than four years ago.
"The whole community is really behind it more this year, and we know more what to expect," said Hogan, an all-state linebacker. "The seniors especially realize who we really are playing for, that it not about us."
That said, the Red Arrows still want to win.
"Our objective is to beat Union, we want a shutout," Hogan said. "We need to make sure that the night is complete."
Noskey is happy to be playing for his cousin, who played his senior season of football at Sparta as a wide receiver last fall.
Last spring, Patterson placed seventh in the Division 2 state track and field meet in the pole vault (13 feet, 8 inches) and was heading to Spring Arbor College on an athletic scholarship.
Then on July 18, he was diagnosed with leukemia. He spent six weeks in the hospital, then had to return one week later for a second round of chemotherapy. He was released from the hospital Monday, and he will have to go back for his third and final round next Monday.
But Friday night, he will be in Lowell.
"I love my cousin, and to have him do this for me is encouraging," Patterson said. "The support is great, his wearing my name on his jersey."
Noskey added: "If he can go through something like this, I can get through two-a-days, offseason workouts. I can play a football game, easy."