Last year, Pam Kassner, owner of Pam Kassner, Super Pear Strategies, LLC in Milwaukee, read about Medals4Mettle in a runners magazine. As a runner herself, she was impressed with the runners who were doing good deeds in their community and started the Milwaukee Chapter of Medals4Mettles.
Last year, Pam Kassner, owner of Pam Kassner, Super Pear Strategies, LLC in Pewaukee, read about Medals4Mettle in a runners magazine. As a runner herself, she was impressed with the runners who were doing good deeds in their community and started the Milwaukee Chapter of Medals4Mettle.
Medals4Mettle collects finishers’ medals from half marathons, marathons and all distances of triathlons and endurance running sports and re-gifts them to patients fighting chronic or life threatening illnesses, as well as survivors.
“It has been clinically proven that a positive attitude is everything when it comes to a patient’s ability to get well,” Kassner said. “Like endurance athletes, patients and survivors have demonstrated similar hard work and suffering to reach their goals, we give them these medals as inspiration, and to let them know they are winners and we are behind them all the way.”
Kassner has formed a relationship with Children’s hospital of Wisconsin and recently visited the hospital’s burn unit to give medals to children there. Kassner hopes that the organization can form relationships with other units at Children’s as well as other hospitals and support organizations in the area.
“In just one year we have collected more than 200 medals from all over the world,” Kassner said.
Kassner’s first two medals she earned herself went to her sister-in-law who was battling breast cancer and her nephew who was fighting leukemia.
While the organization typically collects medals from endurance competitions like Iron Man, marathons or triathlons, gold medalist Olympic Speed Skater Bonnie Blair has also donated to the cause, Kassner said.
“We always try to give the athletes the opportunity to gift their medals themselves,” Kassner said. “If they can’t do it in person, they can write a letter to the patient or fill out an information card as well.”
According to Kassner, the organization has no national budget. Athletes can donate their medals by emailing Kassner at: pam.kassner@medals4mettle.org. or contribute to the cause by donating money for the Medels4Mettle ribbons which replace the originals.
Olympic gold medalist speed skater Bonnie Blair and professional triathletes Lauren Jensen and Heather Haviland visit with a "little champion" at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.
Photo by Debbi Wilson
