CHICAGO – The Bank of America Chicago Marathon recognizes Hillary Gelfman as the fifth recipient of the Richard M. Daley and Maggie Daley Award.
The award was established in 2010 to honor the Bank of America Chicago Marathon participant who raised the most funds for charity through the annual world-class event. As a member of Team in Training, the fundraising program for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), Gelfman raised more than $88,000 during the 2014 race for Team Vickie, a team she organized in honor of her sister.
Gelfman, a Marketing Director for PepsiCo’s Global Nutrition Group, began fundraising for Team Vickie in 2013 when her sister was diagnosed with AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia) just 11 months after Vickie ran her first marathon. Vickie lost her battle with Leukemia in August 2014. Gelfman runs to raise money to fund research for blood cancers like the one her sister battled.
The fundraising efforts of more than 10,000 marathon runners contributed to an event record $17.7 million raised for the benefit of 195 charities during the 2014 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Since the charity program was officially established in 2002, participants have raised more than $132 million for local, national and global causes.
“We’re honored to recognize Hillary with this renowned award for her dedication to LLS’ Team in Training, an organization that exemplifies the philanthropic values of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon,” said Tim Maloney, Illinois President, Bank of America. “Hillary’s commitment to her sister’s memory is admirable, and her fundraising efforts demonstrate her selfless dedication to helping improve treatment for those whose lives are in need, furthering the Marathon’s charitable impact in the Chicago community and beyond.”
Maloney will join Executive Race Director Carey Pinkowski and a representative for the Daley Family on June 29, 2015, at a charity reception hosted by the Bank of America Chicago Marathon at the Park Grill to present the award to Gelfman.
“I am proud to present this award to Hillary on behalf of the Daley Family,” said Mayor Daley. “Her passion for LLS’ Team in Training is truly an inspiration and an excellent example of the devotion and perseverance that runners share. It is amazing how the Bank of America Chicago Marathon brings out the best in so many people like Hillary.”
The LLS’ Team in Training charity team began participating in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in 1996. Since then the team has raised nearly $30.4 million through Marathon fundraising efforts.
“On behalf of the LLS’ Team in Training, I am incredibly grateful to accept the esteemed Daley Award,” said Gelfman. “My youngest sister Vickie was full of life and taken much too soon by this terrible disease. LLS is making amazing strides to fund research, therapies and one day cures for those with blood cancers. I am thrilled I was able to raise these funds for a cause so close to my family and am incredibly thankful to everyone on ‘Team Vickie’ who helped me surpass my fundraising goal.”
Gelfman joins Jim Jenness, a co-trustee of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Trust (2013, Mercy Home for Boys and Girls), John Nichols, president of the Disability Resource Group (2012, Spinal Cord Injury Association of Illinois), Dr. José Oberholzer, chief of the Division of Transplantation at the University of Illinois Hospital (2011, The Chicago Diabetes Project), and Carl Allegretti, CEO of Deloitte Tax (2010, Children’s Memorial Hospital), as a recipient of the prestigious Daley Award. These award-winning fundraisers, along with the combined efforts of the thousands who commit to running for charity each year, have made the Bank of America Chicago Marathon a critical annual fundraiser for hundreds of nonprofit organizations and one of the largest fundraising events in Illinois.
