Cystic Fibrosis walk raises $50,000

With red T-shirts and plenty of sunscreen, members of Brock’s Brigade started showing up at Pottawatomie Park in St. Charles at about 8:30 a.m. Sunday to get ready for the Fox Valley Great Strides walk.

The team, headed up by Doug and Cecelia Noble, was one of the largest participating in the annual Cystic Fibrosis Foundation fundraiser. Their 1-year-old son, Brock, was diagnosed with the disease when he was two weeks old.

Brock’s Brigade, a group of about 30 people, walked the 3-mile course Sunday and raised about $6,500 for the foundation.

“This is their largest fundraiser,” Doug Noble said. “It’s vital to have these. Without these, the research, it’s not going to be there.”

There is no cure for cystic fibrosis but treatments help kids like Brock enjoy life. So Brock needs three nebulizer treatments, chest therapy and 20 to 30 pills each day, his parents said.

That’s why many friends and family members — or friends of friends — donated to Brock’s Brigade.

“People have been very generous,” Noble said. “When you know somebody that has it, it hits close to home.”

The $6,500 Brock’s Brigade raised will combine with donations from other St. Charles walk participants for about $50,000 total, according to Amanda Zar, a walk coordinator from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. And that will go toward an even larger pool.

“This weekend is Great Strides Weekend,” Zar said. “We’re hoping to raise $40 million nationwide.”

There were 14 walk sites in the Chicago region with hundreds of others throughout the country. In St. Charles, the 3-mile walk ended with music, lunch and a raffle at the Pottawatomie pavilion, with a fresh breeze and warm sun to cap the event.