Former bartender Danny has probably had more press on this blog than any other bartender, besides maybe Dave, but he happens to not only lead a busy and interesting life, he's also very willing to share stories with me. I guess you could say he's good at promoting himself.
This is kind of "old news," meaning he told us about it over a month ago, but it's still completely relevant.
His latest endeavor is really cool. Here it is, in his own words.
I have a friend named Amy who I basically met secondhand via Facebook. Back in 2010 when I raced Ironman Coeur d'Alene, she was training for Ironman Louisville and had a friend recommend my race blog. We ended up becoming acquainted through chatting about training and racing and occasionally about "real life" stuff. In January, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and in February, she began chemotherapy. She started a Caring Bridge blog to document her day to day experiences as she battled cancer, which I read. As a pediatric oncology nurse, I was not only curious about her experiences, but was able to better help her understand some of the terminology the doctors were throwing around and explain some of the aspects of her treatment.
Throughout her treatment, she has been an inspiration. Not only has she faced the diagnosis with grace and courage, she has inspired me by continuing her active lifestyle through this very difficult chapter in her life. And obviously, I've not been the only person to take notice. A friend of hers submitted her name to the PR company that runs the annual Lee Jeans Denim Day campaign. This is an event which takes place in October, and basically turns casual Friday into a fundraising opportunity for breast cancer.
The group ended up choosing her to be the face of their national campaign this year. In preparation for the photo shoot for their website and all of their promotional materials, they asked her to choose a handful of friends who have inspired her, supported her, and given her courage through this process. She chose a few coworkers, one of whom is battling cancer herself, a new friend who she met during her treatments, and to my surprise, she also included me on her short list... stating that I had been inspiring her with my athletic exploits ever since we "met" and that I had lately been a source of encouragement to her through my racing, my fundraising efforts for pediatric cancer, and shaving my head at the same cancer benefit.
In April, we all met at a studio in Kansas City, went through makeup and wardrobe, conducted video interviews, and a lengthy photo shoot in the studio, as well as several locations around KC. The website is www.denimday.com and the actual day of the event is October 4th, 2013.
