Cancer Survivor's Daughters Run Lemonade Stand for Research

When Blair Arbuckle learned he had a rare, fast-growing gastrointestinal cancer while on a business trip, he called it "the worst thing to hear." But treatment at Cleveland Clinic connected him with one of the world's leading doctors for his specific cancer, and that expertise gave him his life back.

Now recovered, Arbuckle has turned his gratitude into action. He volunteers for Cleveland's Velasano Bike to Cure fundraiser, one of Ohio's largest cancer research events, and rides alongside his wife each year.

But the sweetest part of his story happens every summer on a suburban Cleveland sidewalk. His two daughters, Evelyn and Mirabel, set up a lemonade stand to raise money for the same fundraiser that supports the research that helped save their dad.

"It's not just a ride," Arbuckle said. "I wear Velasano shirts all the time. It's like a uniform to promote the cause."

The Ripple Effect

The money raised through events like Arbuckle's family fundraiser flows directly to researchers like Dr. Laura Shoemaker. She's developing scrambler therapy, a treatment using low-voltage electricity to help cancer survivors dealing with painful nerve damage from chemotherapy.

Shoemaker has received Velasano-funded grants for her work. She rides in the fundraiser too, motivated by patients she's lost and loved ones affected by cancer.

"It's a great opportunity to come together around a shared cause," Shoemaker said. "It's nice to get together with the community to find a tangible way that we can all fight cancer."

For Arbuckle, every dollar his family raises represents hope for another family facing the same terrifying diagnosis he once received. "By participating, by raising money, it just gives somebody else's husband, wife, parent, child that same fighting chance," he said.

Those lemonade stand quarters add up to research grants, which become new treatments, which save lives.