Team Rachel And Natalee's Song Walk-A-Thon In June A Success

Local Girl’s Charity Organization Hosts Event To Aid Sick Friend

By Dylan Roche

When Natalee Huber, a Severna Park fourth grader, began her journey towards fundraising for children battling leukemia, she never could have known where her efforts would lead.

For her sixth birthday, Huber asked for donations in lieu of gifts so she could bring toys to children who were in the hospital with leukemia. When word got out of Huber’s generosity, a local couple sent her a check to do with as she pleased.

Huber used the money to form a charity organization called Natalee’s Song, which according to its mission statement, strives to raise funds to facilitate individual acts of kindness to children facing childhood leukemia or other diseases and/or to donate funds to specific organizations who share the same goals.

But when her good friend Rachel Reynolds was also diagnosed with childhood leukemia, Huber was disheartened to learn her companion had been stricken with the very ailment she worked so hard to conquer.

Team Rachel was formed under Natalee’s Song with the specific mission of raising funds for Reynolds’s cause, and to allow friends, family, and community members to support and rally for Reynolds.

In June, Natalee’s Song joined sponsorship with local podiatrist Dr. Diane Lebedeff, who is also Huber and Reynolds’s Girl Scout Leader, to host the “Just Beat It” walk-a-thon. The goal of the walk-a-thon was to raise funds and awareness for Reynolds and childhood leukemia.

The fundraising event also included a raffle with prizes from many local businesses and a bone marrow drive to collect funds and potential donors for “Team Be The Match,” which is a nationwide community committed to helping patients in need of a marrow transplant.

The “Just Beat It” walk-a-thon took place June 4, where participants met along Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard in Severna Park. The approximate two-mile walk took place along the Baltimore-Annapolis trail.

For more information on Rachel and Natalee’s efforts, visit www.bethematchfoundation.org/goto/Team.Rachel. For details on Natalee’s Song, visit www.NataleesSong.org.