The day started with a phone call. It was early January 2009 and I got a call that our little niece who was three months old at the time, was in Hershey Medical Center and diagnosed with cancer. Ashley had 4 tumors, neuroblastoma. My first thought was to say a prayer for the family and the help they're going to need.

Ashley is a fighter. During her first year of life, she had many tests, blood transfusions and trips to Hershey Medical Center that kept everyone busy. The family pitched in to help with their young son Josh, who was 3 at the time, while Ashley and one of her parents spent many weeks at Hershey Medical Center. Ashley celebrated her first birthday cancer free and continues to be a fighter. She is now 13 years old and a cancer survivor

My wife had been involved with Vickie's Angel Foundation through our church when they helped one of our members. Our church participated in the annual walk. So my wife and I came up with this idea about giving train rides and donating all the money to Vickie's Angel Foundation. Knowing what families go through when diagnosed with cancer I thought this is how can we give back and what better organization to help then Vickie's Angel Foundation. Even though my family was not helped by Vickie's Angel Foundation we chose them to be the beneficiaries of the train rides. We like their mission and that 100% of the money we raised will help a family get through a rough time. The first train ride was June of 2009 and we raised about $1,800. Each year since then our event has grown and we continue to have lots of volunteers to help the day of the event. 14 years later our event is still going strong. Since 2009 our tesm, Ride the Rails for Cancer, has raised over $70,000 to help the families of Vickie's Angel Foundation and to honor Ashley.