We are excited to share a special project we’ve been working on called Love (and Adventure!) 4 Lucas. The main goal of this project is to help our friend Lucas Harashima CRUSH CANCER. You heard it, folks. We want to CRUSH CANCER and send it packin’.
Up until about a year ago, Lucas was a healthy 5-year-old boy from Westchester County, NY who loved eating, traveling, playing with his buddies and most of all camping and adventures. Prior to that, he was raised in Brooklyn where he lived with his mom, dad and big brother. In the fall of 2016, Lucas’s karate teacher noticed his balance had been off and he seemed to be struggling with moves he could previously do. He also seemed more tired than usual and started asking to be held by his hand for normal activities such as walking down stairs or walking in general. This led to a series of tests, which revealed a large brain tumor–Lucas was suffering from a condition called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a rare form of terminal cancer in the brainstem that typically occurs in children ages 5-9. It is inoperable and there are no known causes, triggers or cures.
Since his diagnosis last September, friends and family of the Harashima tribe have rallied around Lucas in an effort to raise money for his exhaustive treatments and spread awareness about this rare condition. None of us at RANGE had ever heard of DIPG, and the more we learned, the more determined we became to help Lucas CRUSH CANCER.
We asked RANGE collaborator and artist, Jackie Barry, to make us a felt pennant with Lucas’s name on it. We like to call it the “Lucas Flag.” Flags are historically associated with exploration and identity, marking a new territory or signifying a goal reached. We will be sending the Lucas Flag on a new adventure every month, giving Lucas the opportunity to see his name all over the world like a real explorer!
First stop for the Lucas Flag will be Orongo Crater on Easter Island alongside photographer and filmmaker, Max Lowe. If you have an exciting trip or expedition in the works and would like to help us celebrate Lucas’s love of adventure, please reach out directly to jeanine@thisisrange.com.
To learn more about Lucas or donate money to support his treatments, please head over to the “Help Lucas Crush Cancer” site for more information. Every little bit helps to spread the #Love4Lucas!
Flag by Jackie Barry.
xx Jeanine