The team at a fundster-driven Beantown charity recently completed their third annual socially-distanced fundraiser, bringing in close to a million dollars for cancer survivors and cancer-fighting research.

Maggie Dombroski Expect Miracles Foundation Development Director

On May 22, the folks at Boston, Massachusetts-based Expect Miracles Foundation wrapped up the latest iteration of their (Social) Distance Challenge, which raised over $880,000. This is compared with $288K in 2020 and $600K in 2021. The challenge started on May 15.

Frank Heavey, executive director of Expect Miracles, tells MFWire, "It was the biggest fundraiser that Expect Miracles has done in twenty-seven years, and it was an incredible example of leadership and teamwork, passion and commitment."

Heavey adds, "Proceeds from the Distance Challenge will support the Foundation's three funds: the Expect Miracles Discover Fund at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Expect Miracles Research Fund at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and our Samfund financial assistance program for young adult cancer survivors."

Maggie Dombroski, Expect Miracles' director of development and the organizer of this year's Distance Challenge, thanks the group's board of directors for their support and tells MFWire, "We had over 1,100 participants from nineteen countries travel over 27,000 miles."

46 firms were represented by challenge participants and there were 119 total teams.

"It was a great effort from a lot of individuals from all levels of the organization who really came together to go the distance for the cancer community," adds Dombroski.

She says, "We're incredibly grateful for the leadership and commitment of the team captains and participants, and for the support from so many great firms in the financial services industry for helping to bring about a better today and brighter tomorrow for people and families impacted by cancer."

One challenge participant the Expect Miracles team wants to highlight is Jeff Duckworth, head of intermediary distribution in the United States at John Hancock, whose team raised over $33,000 in this year's challenge.

Duckworth writes on the Expect Miracles website, "For the last two years, I ran in honor of my father, Ed 'Duck' Duckworth, as he was battling Multiple Myeloma. This year, unfortunately, I will be running in memory of him. My dad passed away on February 14th, the day of love, as a sign of how much he loved life and the people that made it so special for him."

Heavey notes that over the past few years, Duckworth has personally raised over $100,000 for Expect Miracles. He explains, "His team, Team Six Pack, has been the top fundraising team for three straight years."

Dombroski encourages any interested readers to join upcoming Expect Miracles events, participate in the next annual distance challenge, or reach out directly to learn more about the foundation. She may be reached directly at maggie@expectmiraclesfoundation.org.

"We're absolutely aiming for a million dollars for the fourth annual distance challenge," she says. 

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