Running for Dreams exists to help people who have been affected by cancer find hope, healing and purpose – whether they are learning to live with loss or fighting to reclaim their own lives.
Dream Grants – support for children affected by the loss of a parent or guardian to cancer.
Journey Grants – support for cancer patients and survivors pursuing health through movement.
How It Works
Fundraising
Funds are raised through event fundraising, private donations and corporate sponsorships throughout the year.
Applications
Children 4-18 or their family or friends should apply for assistance by filling out this form.
Cancer patients and survivors should apply for assistance by filling out this form.
Gifting
The Board of Directors will assess each need and decide the amount of assistance we can help with.
Phil’s Story
Phil de Gruy is a two-time cancer survivor. He was first diagnosed with Stage III colon cancer in 2015. After surgery and chemotherapy, the cancer returned and spread to his lungs. Following another surgery, Phil began making major changes to his health and eventually turned to endurance training, setting a goal that became a personal mantra: “Stage IV to 140.6.”
What began as a challenge to rebuild his health grew into something bigger. Through triathlons, marathons and ultramarathons, Phil began thinking about how his experience with cancer could be used to help others.
That purpose became clear during his first 50-mile ultramarathon.
Phil had lost his own father to cancer when he was 12 years old, just as he was beginning his first wrestling season. One of the things he remembers wanting most was the opportunity to attend wrestling camp – something he felt his mother could not afford at the time.
Years later, as a father himself, that memory took on new meaning. Phil recognized that when a parent dies from cancer, children can lose more than a parent. Family finances, routines and opportunities can change overnight, and experiences that once seemed ordinary can suddenly become out of reach.
That realization became the foundation for Running for Dreams.
Running for Dreams was born
Running for Dreams was created to help children who have lost a parent to cancer continue pursuing the experiences, activities and opportunities that matter to them.
Through our Dream Grants, we help provide access to sports, camps, travel, extracurricular activities, education and meaningful family experiences. Our goal is simple: help kids keep dreaming during a time when life has changed dramatically.
As Running for Dreams has grown, so has the mission.
Over the years, cancer patients and survivors have often asked Phil about the changes he made to rebuild his health and the role movement played in his journey. Those conversations inspired a natural next step for Running for Dreams: helping others create a journey of their own.
Through Journey Grants, Running for Dreams will support cancer patients and survivors who want to use movement as part of their path forward. Grants can help connect recipients with resources such as trainers, nutrition professionals and other support while giving them the opportunity to work toward a meaningful personal goal – whether that is completing a race, returning to an activity they love or simply becoming stronger and healthier.
Dream Grants will remain at the heart of Running for Dreams, while Journey Grants allow us to extend the same spirit of hope, opportunity and forward movement to people navigating cancer themselves.
Board of Directors
Phil de Gruy, President
Richard Clement, Secretary
Paul Queyrouze, Treasurer
Trevor Simon, Development
Angela Urschel, Community Events
Staff
Jacob de Gruy, Director of Operations
Abby Setias, Social Media Coordinator