The Lester Project

In September of 2006, Red Sox rookie Jon Lester was diagnosed with Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma, a treatable form of cancer. Four Boston-area college students, Amanda, Christine, Kayte & Casey were deeply touched by this diagnosis.
The girls decided to make silicone awareness bracelets in honor of Jon and his fight to beat cancer. With the proceed from the bracelets, we will donate to The Jimmy Fund in Jon's name, as the Red Sox are very involved with the Jimmy Fund, a foundation that raises money for individuals with all forms of cancer.
In January of 2007, the girls were invited to sell their bracelets at a Jimmy Fund sponsored event at Jillian's, "New Stars for Young Stars" where Red Sox stars Craig Hansen, Clay Buchholz, Jonathan and Josh Papelbon, Lenny DiNardo, Manny Delcarmen, Dave Pauley and Curt Schilling came out to meet with fans in support of The Jimmy Fund.
The 2007 season brought exciting times for The Lester Project, as Jon made his first start in the big leagues after returning from his rehab starts against the Cleveland Indians. Supporters from around the country bought bracelets, inspired by Jon's courageous comeback. Additionally, the Jimmy Fund invited the girls to sell bracelets at Jon's first home start against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and at the Jimmy Fund Radio Telethon. Through August of 2008, the girls had raised almost $55,000.
The Jimmy Fund also held the New Stars Event again in 2008, with "young stars" such as Justin Masterson, Dustin Pedroia, Jon Lester, Ryan Kalish, Nick Hagadone and Bubba Bell greeting with fans at Jillians.
To date, the four of us have raised over $58,000 for the Jimmy Fund, and are proud to continue our quest to help strike out cancer.
Since September of 2006, the Lester Project has been featured in the Boston Herald, the Boston Globe, The Hartford Courant, The Seattle Times, on NESN, NECN and WBZTV as well as featured in an article in the USA Today and on FoxNews.com.
In May of 2008, we teamed with Sully's Tees to create a "no-hitter" commemorative shirt. All of the proceeds from the sales of this t-shirt go directly to The Lester Project.
We are working closely with the Jimmy Fund and various other sources to present "The Lester Project Presents: Comedy for a Cure" at The Estate in Boston on July 9th. Look on here for bulletins and more information as it becomes available!
Just a quick note, we're not Jon Lester! While we're flattered that you guys are sending us such sweet messages of support, we don't have any way to get them to Jon at this time.
Special thanks to Jeff Horrigan, Ryan Asselta, Dan Roche, Gordon Edes, Tina Cervasio, Tom Caron, Jeff Goldberg and Larry Stone for all of their support since the beginning of this project!
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