Annual WhyNotDevin Fundraiser Goes Virtual In 2020

Framingham MA

30 October, 2020

11:28 AM

Description

FRAMINGHAM, MA — An annual fundraiser for the WhyNotDevin cancer charity by Framingham's Jack's Abby brewery will happen again this year — but tweaked for the pandemic. Over the past two years, Jack's Abby donated a portion of its November and December sales of House Lager beer to the charity — and that will remain the case this year. But the coinciding Devin's Dash 5k will go virtual. Instead of running (or walking) the race in one go, this year participants will have until Nov. 8 to complete it. The race can be completed anywhere at anytime. During the 2019 fundraiser, Jack's Abby raised $9,500 for WhyNotDevin. In 2017, Devin Suau, 6, was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) after a snowboarding accident. He died the following October, but not before inspiring people across the state and the world — everyone from New England Revolution fans to Pope Francis. Christine Suau, Devin's mother, created the #WhyNotDevin campaign to raise awareness about her son's rare form of cancer, and as a rallying cry. She wanted her son to be the first to survive the disease, which afflicts only a few hundred children each year. Since Devin's death, WhyNotDevin has continued the mission of finding a cure for DIPG, and regularly holds charity events in Framingham, like the annual Devin's Dash 5K run. WhyNotDevin recently received 501c3 status from the Internal Revenue Service. That designation means donors can write-off contributions, and the nonprofit can participate and select matching programs. "It also means that we can officially start giving out grants to families," Suau in a recent Jack's Abby blog post about this year's fundraiser. "WhyNotDevin gives grants to families to help offset the many financial burdens that accompany this diagnosis. We have also included the ability to help one local family with a child fighting pediatric cancer annually."