Charity Profile: Lending a Hand
Former OSU player carries on fight for older brother
By Travis Hoewischer |
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Photo by Chris Casella Rob Harley, like over 20,000 others in this country, has experienced firsthand the devastation brain cancer can deal unto a family.
A former defensive back for the Ohio State football team, Harley watched his older brother Kit lose a valiant three-year fight this March. Fighting the disease itself has been a prolonged, expensive process for his brother's family just on the physical front; tests, chemotherapy, prescriptions are the known overwhelming costs of medical care.
But, it's the mortgage, the home modifications, even groceries that wreak as much collateral havoc on the lives of a patient's family.
"All these charities are going toward awareness, for research, or for development of a drug; this is designed to go toward all the back-end stuff that you don't hear as much about," Harley said. "How would you know, unless you've been through it? It's not a case of, 'Hey you're focusing on the wrong thing.' Raising money for research is very important; it must go on. But, at the same time, it hits home more when you realize the families' lives are being destroyed because of this disease."
Harley's family and friends of his brother recognized the growing need for assistance when Kit had to scale back his work, eventually becoming wheelchair-bound and later bed-ridden. They formed the group Harley Helping Hands, an organization that helped raise money for the Harley family up until the time of Kit's passing.
Now, Harley, descendant of Buckeye legend Chic Harley, is working to expand the group, now a 501c3 non-profit, to his adopted hometown of Columbus. Being able to provide money that will go directly to families is just as important as research and development, he says.
"Those bills don't stop coming in. They keep piling up and if you can't work . . . Think about if you're unemployed. Unemployment is huge right now and a lot of people are going through it, people are wondering how they're going to pay their bills. Now, it's the same thing, just add medical costs to that," he said.
"The trickle-down effect is massive."
The patient already is dealing with his or her own mortality, or physical pain, and being able to lessen their concern for their family is a big part of HHH's mission statement.
"You realize you're helping the patients themselves truly focus on trying to get well, get better. Now, it's not the patient saying, 'I'm sick, this stinks and by the way, my family may not have enough food.' They can just focus on their fight," Harley says. "Their lives may be coming to an end, so they can focus on being with their families and fighting, and not all this other stuff, which is also very real. There's no getting away from it. There's no telling AEP to stop sending the bills."
Harley compares fighting cancer to any other multi-faceted issue facing our society, and says HHH provides another facet in the fight.
"It's like battling drug problems," he says. "Banning drugs is good, but it's better to put people into a rehab program. This is like a rehab program: while you're trying to banish the disease with research, we're going to ease the pain and struggle for people that are waiting."
In his position as a football correspondent for ABC 6 in Columbus, Harley said he gets at least an e-mail or letter per day from other people who have experience with a family member's fight.
"It's been therapeutic. I always tell them when I respond, that, unfortunately, we are linked by this fatal issue that happened to us and our families," he said.
"It's comforting that you have so much support. It also drives you to raise money because you're not going through it alone. There were 22,000 people [diagnosed] last year and there will be another 22,000 this year. Each time, I think about the e-mail I'm going to get next year from someone that has just been diagnosed. The cycle keeps going, and that's what fuels this charity."
Harley cites the advocacy of former OSU linebacker Chris Spielman and his late wife Stefanie and local support from viewers and Buckeye fans as further inspiration for expanding to Columbus.
"We've already raised so much money in Chicago, and the people in this community are so amazing, that it has really been the drive to bring it to Columbus," he said.
And of course, there's Kit himself.
"It's like the all-American story that you would write about the little brother following the big brother wherever he went," Harley says of Kit, who was six years older. "[I] modeled everything after him . . . he was the best of all of us. Being the oldest, he was kind of like a father figure. Especially early on when he was 18 and I was 12. He always looked out for me."
The ultimate drive for Harley has been seeing the overwhelming effect his brother had on the world around him in his short life. A high school classmate he barely knew e-mailed Rob to tell him about a time Kit, the popular jock, had stopped to ask her if she was doing okay. The pastor at his funeral in suburban Chicago said it was the largest turnout he'd ever seen.
"He was my brother first and foremost, but he was also my hero and my mentor. I looked around [at the funeral] and realized he was at least one of those things to everyone. He touched a lot of people. And he really did care about everybody."
"Who better to name a charity after than a guy who cared about everybody?"
For more about Harley Helping Hands, visit www.harleyhelpinghands.com.
Harley Helping Hands will be holding its first annual golf outing at noon, Monday, July 19th at Heritage Golf Club (3525 Heritage Club Dr., Hilliard). The shotgun-start scramble will feature former Buckeyes and Columbus natives Simon Fraser and Brandon Joe as well as other former Buckeyes and current Blue Jackets. Individuals or foursomes can register at www.golfdigestplanner.com/14968-harleyhelpinghands.
Originally Published: July 1, 2010
