South County residents have two ways to spend the day after Thanksgiving: standing for hours in line doing some holiday shopping, or embarking on a 5K run/walk to help the Steinberg family raise money to battle and research pancreatic cancer.
When Richard Steinberg was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January, he and his wife, Leslie, sat down with their three children, Adrienne, Joel and Ariel, to discuss the options, their future and his plans to fight the disease that so often kills its victims within six months of diagnosis.
Richard Steinberg has been undergoing a new, experimental treatment for his cancer for the past few weeks and is "doing well," he said. A patent lawyer with an office in Washington, D.C., he plans to be helping in any way he can during the run.
"We didn't know how much work and effort would be involved in putting this together," said Richard Steinberg, laughing. "When the kids first came to me about it, I told them if they had the time and energy to do it, go ahead. I think they got started on it before they came to me with the idea," he said.
Until two years ago, his children had been scattered across the country, Richard Steinberg said. They all moved back to the area recently, where the family has lived since the early 1970s. Always a close family, they have only gotten closer since his diagnosis.
"We've started having dinner together on Sundays. Getting sick just made us all that much closer," he said.
Along the way, Richard Steinberg said he has discussed his progress with his children. "I think it's harder on them than it is on me. I think they hurt more than I do," he said, because they really can't do much to help him battle the cancer.
However, he is grateful for their interest in pulling together the race. "I guess they like me a lot, which is good to know," he chuckled. "I'm really proud of them."
Since his diagnosis, Richard Steinberg's children have been able to continue with their lives: son Joel has recently passed the Bar exam and youngest daughter Ariel will graduate on time from the University of Maryland in May.
Instead of lamenting their fate, the Steinberg children decided to plan the Harvest Hustle, a 5K walk/run on Friday, Nov. 25 in their South Run neighborhood.
Adrienne Steinberg, 29, the eldest child and a marathon runner, decided to organize a fund-raising run to help fund pancreatic cancer research after she raised over $6,000 for the disease during the New York Marathon this summer.
"I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into," she said. Planning for the marathon, she and her family have found themselves inundated with so many tasks, it seems they have all taken a second job, she said.
The funds raised from the run will not only help her father, Adrienne Steinberg said, but all those who have cancer.
"The only thing we can do is the hope of keeping him around long enough that his doctors can find a way to treat it better," she said.
SPENDING SO much time with her family has helped all of them support each other, Adrienne Steinberg said.
Her father "gets tired, but he's been quite the trooper," she said. "We were all crushed when he was first diagnosed, but we're incredibly thankful we've had all this time together. Every moment we share means so much more."
Support has been coming in from friends and neighbors in South Run. "It makes you feel like you've been a good citizen for all these years to get this kind of support," said Adrienne Steinberg. "We're so thankful to have this kind of support from our friends and neighbors, they've been amazing."
Originally, the family set a goal of raising $3,000 from the Harvest Hustle. According to the Web site that Adrienne Steinberg set up for the fund-raising effort, the family has raised over $3,800 a week before the event.
"For a first-year event, that's pretty great," she said.
Most events like this take up to six months to plan, said Joel Steinberg, 27, but he and his sisters have only spent about a month on the Harvest Hustle.
"This disease has a very high mortality rate but our father's doing well right now," he said. "We'll be having some family in the area for Thanksgiving and thought this would be a great time to have this event. Plus, it's a good way to work off what you ate the day before."
The family hopes to make this an annual event, Joel Steinberg said, raising money for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, or PanCAN.
"PanCAN helps people put on events like this, but they also work on advocacy and awareness of the disease," he said. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of death from cancer but "gets relatively little funding. We're really happy to be getting some funding for this disease," he said.
Joel Steinberg remembers the block parties his neighborhood had when he was a child, something that has stopped happening with any regularity as the years passed.
"Our neighbors have been really helpful and excited to do whatever they can for us," he said. "The South Run pool, where the race will start, has donated equipment to help us out, people are helping with gift bags and setting up tables. We're really excited for all the positive feedback we've been getting."
As the youngest member of the family, Ariel Steinberg, 21, is busy preparing for the Harvest Hustle while attending the University of Maryland.
"I haven't seen my dad as happy and enthusiastic all year as he's been getting ready for this run," she said, en route to her jogging class. "His positive attitude has definitley helped him feel better."
For the race, she's been contacted by "friends old and new" who are coming out to support her father.
"The response is overwhelming, to say the least," she said. "I just want to see a lot of energetic, happy people. It would be really great to see people coming out and sitting on their front steps watching the runners."
There are days when it's hard to remember her father's sick, Ariel Steinberg said. "He goes to work every single day, even if the days are interrupted by doctors appointments," she said.
She imagines her family's Thanksgiving dinner will have a different feel this year. "My mom always cries, but I think this year she'll say she's thankful that my dad's still alive, which isn't something she's thought about before," she said.
November is National Pancreatic Cancer month, said Leslie Steinberg, which makes the event all the more appropriate.
"I've been running around, trying to get local businesses that we've gone to in the past as customers to help us out," she said.
In looking for sponsorships, Leslie Steinberg has come across several people whose lives have been touched by pancreatic cancer. "This is a devastating diagnosis, but we try not to dwell on that," she said.
She credits her children for being enthusiastic about helping their father.
"It motivates my husband to see his children working so hard to help him," said Leslie Steinberg. "He wants to give back with them and do what he can to keep up his health."
Cancer runs in her husband's family, so he was vigilant about having colonoscopies and other tests to check for the disease. "This kind of snuck up on us. But the way he's approaching it, it's very much mind over matter," she said.
Their community lends itself well to a fund-raising walk, Leslie Steinberg said, because the main road is a circle with side streets linking together. "When people go out for a walk, they meet up with their neighbors in the circle. It's always been a comfortable area to walk in," she said.
Spending the time with friends, family and neighbors will be especially important to the Steinberg family this year, Leslie Steinberg said. "We don't know what the future holds, but we're still together and that's what's important. We know we're very fortunate."