ROCKWALL, TX – December 1, 2021 — The Rockwall Professional Firefighters Association held a t-shirt fundraiser campaign throughout the month of October, in support of local mom Jennifer Cordtz who is battling Stage 4 Inflammatory Breast Cancer. This morning, community members and city officials joined the Cordtz family at Rockwall Fire Station No. 2 to present Jennifer with the proceeds – a total of $10,000.
“Love is greater than cancer, and that’s what has got our family through all of this,” Jennifer said. “The community has completely wrapped their arms around us and shown your love, and that’s how we have made it as far as we have. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, and I promise I will continue to pay it forward.”
Firefighter Brad Vallance, who along with firefighter Micah Floyd spearheaded the t-shirt campaign, also presented Jennifer with a special firefighters helmet with her last name on it.
The Firefighters Association built on the success of their inaugural t-shirt campaign last year, in which they sold 500 shirts and raised $9,500. This year, Vallance said the Association wanted to put a face to the campaign in hopes of spreading more awareness about breast cancer. in Jennifer, they found an incredibly dedicated woman who in the face of a terrifying diagnosis has never stopped giving back to others. As the chairwoman of the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Society of America, Jennifer has focused her attention on helping others in their fight with breast cancer through support groups and giving back in any way she can.
“Jennifer’s reasoning behind it was, what can I give to other people?” Vallance said. “And that concept is what are firefighters are taking up each year – what can we do to help our community?”
The Rockwall community responded to Jennifer’s story in a big way, and the Firefighters Association ended up selling more than 1,000 t-shirts for the cause this year. Vallance said that would not have been possible without the help of his fellow Association members and firefighters, along with the tremendous support of the Rockwall community.
“The awareness brought about by this has multiplied,” Vallance said. “We have over a thousand people with the shirt, people see them with the shirt and ask questions and want to know more. We’ve sent shirts to Georgia, Austin… we have them all over Texas, the community and the country. We can’t thank Jennifer enough for allowing us to use her for this cause this year.”
You can hear more about Jennifer’s story in this incredibly powerful TED Talk delivered by her daughter Tatiana Cordtz (fair warning – you’ll want to have some tissues handy) >> www.ted.com/talks/tatiana_cordtz_inflammatory_breast_cancer_rare_not_impossible
By Austin Wells, Blue Ribbon News. Courtesy photos.
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