The following are news articles and information on the members of Team Marine Parents™ who are participating in the 2007 Marine Corps Marathon in Washington D.C. on November 28.
Please click here and post a message of support and encouragement
our Team Marine Parents™ members
Please click here to make a donation to the participants fund raising goals
there is a complete list of participants at the bottom of this page with the project and amount they are raising funds for
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
MarineParents.com,Inc.
You can Track Team Marine Parents™ members at the Marine Corps Marathon with Live Updates!
Track the Team Marine Parents™ Marathon Runners with Electronic Updates.To keep track of your favorite runners in the 2007 Marine Corps Marathon you can sign up to receive updates directly from tracking devices used by the runners and the Marine Corps Marathon to record the runners times at certain check points.
A team of MarineParents.com,Inc volunteers are also standing by to receive live updates from the many volunteer "spotters" who will be at the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday Oct. 28,2007.
Electronic updates are not available for 10K runners due to the shorter distance of the event.
MarineParents.com,Inc. Volunteers are stepping up and ready to post any updates they receive on our 10K team members to the MarineParents.com Message Boards as well as 10K participants finish times.
To learn how you can keep track of our team members, check for updates as we receive them and join in the on line fun of Race Day,please click the following link
Race Day Live Updates
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Cory de Vera,
News-Leader
Marine keeps faith in spite of near paralysis; Physical therapy helps Lopez rebuild strength.
Surrounded by about 2,000 others on foot at today's Sunshine Run, Lance Cpl. Joe Lopez will get by with arm-power — and a set of wheels.
The 21-year-old Marine is using the race to prepare for a Marine-sponsored marathon Oct. 28 in Washington, D.C., and to rebuild his strength after near paralysis.
It was only a little more than a year ago that a smallpox vaccination left him helpless, unable even to breathe without a ventilator.
Doctors told his mother he likely wouldn't survive, but with physical therapy — now every other day at St. John's Hospital — his strength is coming back. With a cane, he's able to walk about the length of a football field, but for a trip to the mall he'll use a wheelchair. Daily medications keep his legs from trembling.
click here to continue reading this article and for a link to photos
More About This Story:
Wheelchair racer
Marine Joseph Lopez, who competed in Saturday's race in an arm-powered wheelchair, finished the 10K with a time of 36:43.
October 11, 2007
MarineParents.com,Inc
VOTE for Neil Schalk Cosmo’s Bachelor of the Year 2007
Twenty-one year old former Marine Neil Schalk is much more than a “hot bachelor” and the subject of attention for many young women.
He is a Purple Heart hero from Muscoda, Wisconsin. In August 2005 he was deployed to Iraq as part of a Personal Security Detachment escorting the II MEF commanding general and other VIP's around Iraq.
On the 4th of November, 2005, Neil and 13 other Marines were hit by an IED. The blast blew a hole through his left hand leaving it non functional, he also lost about a third of his right hand and two fingers.
Neil has been selected as Cosmo’s Wisconsin Bachelor 2007 - but to become Cosmos “Bachelor of the Year” he needs a few good votes. His sister Natalee entered him in the contest and he was selected from thousands of applicants.
A cross tattooed on the back of his right tricep with the words “For God & Country” serves as a reminder to him and others of why he paid such a high price. He has no regrets and very much misses being a Marine. He is a true American hero.
Voting started TODAY at 12:01 AM and ends on October 11th at 11:59 PM, so please vote and pass this link along to friends and family. Results will be posted on October 19th.
The Schalk family has been very active members of Marine Parents. Neil’s Mom Tracey is a Purple Heart Family Support volunteer, and her story was the inspiration behind the meal program at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD.
Neil was also a member of the Team Marine Parents Marathon Team last year, and is teaming up with another Marine – LCpl. Josef Lopez – to run it again this year to benefit Purple Heart Family Support.
And, you can check out his “hot bachelor” picture in the November issue of Cosmo. Keep an eye out for him in the media also – the first national entertainment show featuring the Cosmo Bachelors -- Entertainment Tonight -- will run the week of October 8th.
click here for a link to a photo slide show
October 10,2007
MarineParents.com News Letter
Marine Corps Marathon
Team Marine Parents Progress Update:Training and Fundraising Goals
If you're a frequent reader of the newsletter you know Team Marine Parents has been training hard to compete in this years Marine Corps Marathon and 10K in Washington, DC this October 28, 2007. We've got team members ranging from 21 to 50+ competing in both events.
The goal of Team Marine Parents is to raise awareness in local communities for Troop Support. Each team member has selected an Outreach Project to promote and raise funds toward.
We need your help with one of those goals. LCpl. Josef Lopez, our Marine who has gone from Wheelchair to Marathon in under a year, has set a goal of $5000 for Purple Heart Family Support. The project provides lunches to families while their Marines are recovering at Bethesda Hospital in Maryland. I'd like to ask you to help Josef meet his goal while supporting the families of our injured Marines at the same time. Let's show Josef our support for him competing in the Marathon and help him reach his goal!
Make a Donation...
Read Updates on Team Marine Parents...
Read Josef's Story...
October 4, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MarineParents.com
Injured Marines, Gold Star Family Team Up to Conquer the Marine Corps Marathon on October 28
Marines Raising Funds to Support Marines Injured in Iraq or Afghanistan
Washington, D.C. (October 04, 2007) – LCpl. Josef Lopez and Cpl. Neil Schalk didn’t know each other while serving in the Marine Corps in Iraq, but the invisible bonds of brotherhood that tie
Marines together made it an easy decision for them to support each other through their next
challenge: the Marine Corps Marathon. Those same bonds also made it an easy decision for a
Gold Star family to support their cause.
"The story is one of the most inspiring I have ever heard," said Tracy Della Vecchia, founder of
MarineParents.com, which brought the unlikely trio together at their annual conference in April.
"You have two amazing Marines both served in Iraq and both overcoming significant medical
challenges joining together to help each other get through 26.2 miles. And, you have a
foundation started by Gold Star parents providing the tools for them to do so. It really just shows
you the incredible bond that Marines and their families form."
26.2 miles can challenge even the most experienced competitor, and LCpl. Josef Lopez knew he
needed to gain a new set of skills to finish the race. In October 2006, LCpl. Lopez became very ill
in Iraq, which caused total paralysis and months of hospitalization and recuperation. However,
rather than let that stop him, he set a new goal for himself: completing his first ever marathon.
To compete, LCpl. Lopez will be using a customized hand cycle donated by Heart of a Marine
Foundation (HOMF), a foundation started by the parents of a Marine killed in Iraq in 2004. But,
LCpl. Lopez’s support didn’t stop there – a fellow Marine was ready to offer his assistance after a
chance meeting.
Cpl. Neil Schalk is a Purple Heart Marine who sustained serious injuries from an IED explosion in
2005. After recovering from his injuries, he began marathon training and has now run two
marathons in two years. He volunteered to help make sure LCpl. Lopez would finish the
marathon by doing “whatever it takes” to make sure he gets to that finish line. With a customized
hand cycle from HOMF and training support and assistance along the way from Cpl. Schalk,
LCpl. Lopez is confidant his Marine Corps-inspired persistence will get him to the finish line.
LCpl. Lopez and Cpl. Schalk are also using the race to support other inured Marines, by raising
funds to support two of MarineParents.com’s outreach programs. Purple Heart Family Support
and Operation PAL provide both meals to patients and families at the National Naval Medical
Center and “adopt” injured Marines to send cards, letters and prayers to.
To learn more about LCpl. Lopez and Cpl. Schalk or to donate money to support their fundraising
goals, visit http://www.teammarineparents.com/2007-mcm.asp. To learn more about Heart of a
Marine Foundation, visit www.heartofamarine.org.
FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES: TRACY DELLA VECCHIA, 573-449-2003
September 13,2007
MarineParents.com News Letter
From Wheelchair to Marathon
Iraq Veteran LCpl. Lopez goes from Wheelchair, to Cane, to Hand-Cycle, to Marine Marathon!
In October of 2006, while in Iraq with 1st Battalion, 24th Marines, LCpl. Lopez became very ill which caused total paralysis. He is making great progress and can now walk short distances without his cane.
In 2007, Josef attended the MarineParents.com 2007 Annual National Conference in a wheel chair. Joe met Neil Schalk, a Purple Heart Marine who ran the Marathon in 2006 and will run again in 2007. As Josef was being introduced, he stood at his wheelchair and announced that he would be competing in the Marine Corps Marathon in 2007. Neil stood behind Josef and announced that he would do whatever it took to make sure that Josef crossed the finish line.
Thanks to Georgette Frank, Gold Star mom and founder of The Heart of a Marine Foundation (HOMF), LCpl. Lopez was outfitted with a hand-cycle to compete in the Marathon. Training is under-way to increase his upper-body strength and compete successfully in the Marathon this October.
LCpl. Lopez has set a goal of $5,000 to raise as a Team Marine Parents participant for Purple Heart Family Support, an outreach program of MarineParenst.com that provides lunches to families of injured Marines at Bethesda Hospital during the weekends when the cafeteria closes. Josef is also a participant in our Operation PAL program.
Please take a moment to leave some words of encouragement for LCpl. Lopez, Cpl. Schalk, and the other Team Marine Parents members participating in the Marine Corps Marathon this year. If you would like to make a donation to Josef's goal, please remember to put his name in the "fundraiser" field if you donate online, or in the memo area of your check.
Marathon Participants:
Josef Lopez, Missouri (click for bio)
Goal: $5,000, Purple Heart Family Support™
Kim Neely, Georgia (click for bio)
Goal: $5,000, The Care Package Project™ and Purple Heart Family Support™
Neil Schalk, Wisconsin (click for bio)
Goal: $1,000 Purple Heart Family Support™
Stephanie & Sal Nigro,Virginia (click for bio)
Goal: $500 Purple Heart Family Support™
Sal is an active duty U.S. Marine, who has been deployed to Iraq twice
Ken Patterson, Michigan (click for bio)
Goal: $500 Purple Heart Family Support™
Wanda Schmitt, Wisconsi (click for bio)
Goal: $500 Operation PAL™
Bob Gribble, Wisconsin (click for bio)
Goal: $500 Operation PAL™
John Yorko, Indiana (click for bio)
Goal: $750 Purple Heart Family Support™
