Candlelighters Run/Walk benefits children with cancer
TCU community involved in local charity event
By Monique Bhimani
Staff Reporter

Thirteen-year-old Danielle Taylor sits on the bench with the TCU women’s soccer team at almost every home game. However, less than two years ago she was in a wheelchair.

Taylor was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) and is currently in remission, said her mother Dolores Taylor. Money and support for children with cancer, like Danielle Taylor, and their families is raised by the Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Greater Fort Worth.

The Candlelighters will hold their seventh-annual night run from 6:15 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday at Sundance Square downtown. This year’s run will be held for the first time in Sundance Square and it is the only evening run the City of Fort Worth will permit, Kurk Gayle, webmaster and board member of the Fort Worth Candlelighters, said.

The women’s soccer team has participated in the Candlelighters Night Run for the past five years said Blake Amos, associate head coach of the women’s soccer team.

Amos said he found out that Danielle Taylor plays on a local soccer team and he still he keeps in touch with her and her family by e-mail.

Danielle Taylor is back in school now, after a relapse in 2001. She plays the flute in her school band, is a member of the National Junior Honor Society and participates in a club soccer team, Dolores Taylor said.

“She enriches our lives,” Amos said. “Some days she’s weaker and tired and sometimes she just flies through (the race).”

Rebecca Repasky, a senior biology major on the women’s soccer team, has participated in the run every year since her freshman year at TCU. Repasky, who is also close to the Taylors, said it is quite an experience to be walking with all the cancer survivors who have been through so many challenges.

“Our team walks with (Danielle Taylor) every year, whether she’s in a wheelchair or not,” Repasky said. “It’s a really cool experience.”

Proceeds from the event will go to fulfill the immediate needs of families of young patients with cancer and also provide education about childhood cancer for families, Gayle said.

“(Candlelighters) do things such as help families that get behind in their bills and turn their lights on,” he said.

Two different runs will be held: One 1K Fun Run and a 5K Run/Walk. There will be music, entertainment and free food at the event as well as awards and trophies for top finishers of the 5K race.

“In the past three years, participation has doubled to about 1,600 participants,” said Scott Gayle, director of the Candlelighters Night Run. “We expect about 2,500 to 3,000 (participants) this year.”
For more information about the Candlelighters Night Run, call (817) 528-3631.