I climb in memory of my beloved husband, Chris Reiner, and to help support people with lung disease. 

Through groundbreaking research, advocacy and critical education, the money we raise will provide lifesaving treatments and dramatically improve the quality of life for more than 36 million Americans diagnosed with lung disease.

Please support my fundraising efforts and be part of making a difference in the lives of lung disease patients and their caregivers. Every donation takes us one step closer to a world free of lung disease. The need is urgent, so please join me today and help us save more lives.

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March 2024

Dear friends and family,

In honor of Chris's birthday today (3/12/24), I am launching my second fundraiser for the American Lung Association in loving tribute to my husband. But before I say more - I want to express my sincere gratitude to all of the amazing and generous people who donated to the ALA last year. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting something that means so much to me.

It has been such an incredible experience to work with this wonderful organization and to know that the money we raise is helping countless people like Chris who are diagnosed with a terrible disease like lung cancer. I feel confident that Chris would be so proud to know that we are working to help spread awareness and to fund research and early detection programs that could help people find and treat lung cancer before it is symptomatic and ultimately stage 4.

I feel moved to do one more big project with the incredible people I have met through the ALA. Last year when I went to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro with an amazing group of like-minded strangers who all have a personal connection to lung disease, I felt as if I had found a very strong sense of meaning. I was of course doing something for Chris and for lung cancer patients but I was also finding a way forward for myself. I was finding a way to show my two children that we can take on big goals, even if they seem scary and a bit out of reach. Reaching my fundraising goal and then having the culminating experience of reaching the summit of a big mountain with others doing the exact same thing for the same cause was extremely rewarding. I have to admit that the last few hours approaching that summit were what I might call dicey - I was zapped of my energy and strength and decided to push on despite a pretty tough intestinal sickness. Crazy as it may sound, I have not felt Chris with me as much as I did during those few pre-dawn hours as I painstakingly continued to put one foot in front of the other. I asked Chris to help push me up those last few thousand feet of elevation and I put all my thoughts toward a singular vision in my mind. I pictured Chris standing behind me with his hands on my shoulders helping to push me upwards. And oh boy, did my tears let loose when I finally stepped onto that summit at 19,341 feet. I climbed that mountain for Chris and I climbed that mountain for me and I climbed that mountain for my children and I climbed that mountain for all the families dealing with the pain, fear, and sadness that come along with a cancer diagnosis.

It would be a huge honor for me to honor Chris again and to support the American Lung Association once more by continuing to raise funds for this important cause. Next February alongside a fellow group of ALA fundraisers, I will attempt to climb two large mountains in Mexico - Pico de Orizaba at 18,491 feet and Ixtaccihuatl at 17,340 feet. And of course, I will be certain to leave little stones painted with "CMR" (Chris's initials) along my route and hopefully atop the two peaks. I will also carry thoughts of all of you with me as I prepare for this next challenge.

I would be so grateful for your support and donations to the American Lung Association.

And to anyone interested in hiking and training with me, I'd love your company this spring, summer, and fall!

Thank you again for your generosity, for supporting the ALA, and for keeping Chris in your hearts. He is so missed.

Love,
Allison

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February 2023

Dear friends and family,

Quick headline: I am hiking Mount Kilimanjaro in honor of Chris Reiner and to raise crucial funds for the American Lung Association and I would love your help!

Two weeks ago marked a year without the amazing Chris Reiner and boy, do Elsie, Emmett, and I continue to miss him. Getting through this past year of firsts was challenging and painful for all of us. Now the year of seconds begins; unfortunately, there's no magic that happens at the end of the first year to make anything suddenly easier. In fact, in many ways life somehow has felt even harder as the reality of a long future without our beloved Chris/Daddy becomes reality. I have been asking myself how to move forward from here and the only thing that feels right is to keep finding ways to remember and honor Chris and others like him who are battling lung cancer, which remains the leading cancer killer. Lung cancer affects so many people, and all I want to do is to try to help others to get the next important drug or procedure or gene therapy that could be lifesaving. I know Chris would be completely on board with this as he was passionate about following advancements made in the fight against lung cancer.

I’ve been so grateful for the support of all of you in our annual walks for Lungevity. I am now ready to take on an even bigger fundraising goal to benefit the American Lung Association, a respected advocacy, research, and education group that has been operating for 115 years. Its mission is to create a world free of lung disease and they champion efforts to fight lung cancer, asthma, pneumonia, Covid-19, COPD, and complications from vaping and smoking. The organization also advocates for clean air for all and works to ensure that our air is safe and free of dangerous pollution.

As I said in his eulogy, Chris Reiner always has a plan. And this plan feels very much like fate. I believe that Chris led me to this next challenge. Let me explain.

In early January, as the anniversary of Chris's passing was approaching, I was struggling to find things to look forward to and decided I needed to set my sights on a goal that would encourage me to keep moving forward. Hiking has always provided me with peace and over the last year has been the activity that lets me feel closest to Chris. Leaving rocks for him throughout the White Mountains has been an act of healing that I want to continue for many, many years to come. As I started imagining the big hikes throughout the world that I have always wanted to do, I immediately thought of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Ever since my Peace Corps days in West Africa, this has been on my bucket list. And I had always hoped that I would return to Africa with Chris to show him my time there, but sadly we never had the opportunity to do so. I started talking about my idea in early January and wondered if I could realistically pull this off for my 50th birthday in a few years.

And then fate intervened and it felt like Chris was urging me to tackle this goal sooner rather than later, and in the most meaningful way possible. As I sat in the kitchen scrolling through my Facebook feed, I immediately saw a picture of hikers on the top of a mountain holding a big American Lung Association sign. Tears filled my eyes when I clicked in and read the caption: First Time Ever - American Lung Association climbs Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise much needed funds! All I could say was "Chris, is this you talking to me?" I believe he was.

I called the American Lung Association the next morning and secured the 9th of ten spots to be on this amazing team of fundraisers united by our passion for fighting lung disease; many of us will be hiking in honor of loved ones who have died from lung cancer. In August 2023 I will use my lungs to climb way up high to an altitude of 19,341 feet. I will carry rocks painted with Chris's initials and will leave them along our route, and hopefully on the summit. It feels like this was meant to be - to do the thing I love, in honor of the man I love, on a continent that I love, raising funds for a very important cause that means so much to our family.

I would be so honored and grateful if you would join me in donating to the American Lung Association in memory of my beloved Chris Reiner to help so many people in the US who suffer from lung disease. Please feel free to share this email with others to help me make it to my fundraising goal.

I have been surrounded by so much love during the last year and during Chris’s illness. I will carry you all in my heart as I prepare for this challenge and look forward to sharing updates along the way.

With love and gratitude,

Allison