Demchak Hope Challenge raises record amount for St. Margaret Foundation

St. Margaret Foundation continued its Brian Demchak Hope Challenge presented by PNC this year in the virtual ‘Your Way!’ format, which debuted at the start of the pandemic.

The challenge raised a record $138,672 and had a record 270 registrants. The challenge generated 41 fundraising pages and had 24 sponsors.

“We polled our participants and sponsors after last year’s Hope Challenge, and they told us they liked doing the event their way as opposed to getting up at 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning for a 5K,” said Foundation President Mary Lee Gannon. “It was so exciting to see all the creative ways people embraced fitness, fun and philanthropy for our patients in crisis.”

Hope Challenge participants could run, bike, walk, swim or play any sport they chose from May 15-21. Participants’ posts on social media and the foundation’s Facebook page showed swim parties, dog walking, steep hill walks, pickleball games, Peloton exercise, hiking, disc golf and much more. Everyone received a Challenge T-shirt, a finishers medal and wind spinner that was placed in the hospital’s garden in honor or memory of a loved one.

New this year were two in-person Hope Challenges: the RIDC O’Hara Wellness Walk on May 17 and the UPMC St. Margaret Lunchtime Wellness Walk on May 18.

Brian Demchak and his mother, Marie Louise (Tina) Demchak, made it a family tradition to run in the foundation’s 5K until Brian passed away in 2016 at the age of 57. The foundation has a fund in Brian’s memory that can help patients with medicine, medical devices, insulin, and transportation to and from treatment. It also funds the foundation’s Patient Food Pantry and the foundation’s Clothes Closet for patients whose clothes were destroyed in the ambulance or emergency room.

“For the patient with cancer who doesn’t have a ride to chemotherapy or the discharged patient going home to an empty cupboard, our donors are often the only friend they have,” Gannon said.

For more information, is available from https://www.stmargaretfoundation.org/challenge or by calling 412-784-4215.