Cancer survivor, Air Force veteran launches 12th annual 24-hour fundraiser at Pork Barrel BBQ
Pat Malone, who lives with a rare neurological condition, marks the exact minute he awoke from life-saving surgery by standing for 24 hours at Pork Barrel BBQ
Patrick “Pat” Malone will stand for 24 hours straight beginning Tuesday afternoon at a Del Ray barbecue restaurant, raising money for cancer research the same way he has every year for more than a decade — by refusing to sit down.
Malone, a cancer survivor and 20-year U.S. Air Force veteran, will kick off his 12th Annual Stand Up To Cancer 24-Hour Fundraiser at Pork Barrel BBQ at 4:26 p.m. Tuesday. The event will run continuously until 4:26 p.m. Wednesday.
The time is not arbitrary. It marks the exact minute Malone awoke from life-saving cancer surgery in 2014, a moment he calls his second birthday.
“I remember opening my eyes at 4:26 p.m. after surgery and realizing I had been given more time to live,” Malone said. “I don’t know how much mobility I have left, but I know exactly what I’m going to do with the time I’ve been given, and that is to fight cancer.”
Malone lives with Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia, an extremely rare, progressive and incurable neurological condition that affects approximately 10,000 people in the United States and 100,000 worldwide.
This year’s event marks a new chapter for the fundraiser, which had been held at Fire Works American Pizzeria & Bar in Arlington for the previous 11 years. The move to Pork Barrel BBQ at 2312 Mount Vernon Ave. brings the event to Alexandria for the first time.
Bill Blackburn, co-owner of Pork Barrel BBQ, said the restaurant is proud to host.
“Pat Malone and my business partner ‘Mango’ Mike Anderson have been friends since the 80’s,” Blackburn said. “Pork Barrel is proud to support his efforts.”
Each year, Malone begins and ends the fundraiser at 4:26 p.m. to honor the medical professionals at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, where his tumor was removed, and the Alexander T. Augusta Military Medical Center at Fort Belvoir, where he later underwent 29 radiation treatments.
Community members are invited to stop by throughout the 24 hours to show support and participate in Stand Up To Cancer placards honoring loved ones who have battled cancer or are currently fighting the disease.
Malone has set a $1 million fundraising goal this year. As of Tuesday, his online fundraising page had raised $1,148. He is encouraging supporters to make a $26 donation — a nod to his 4:26 p.m. milestone — and then nominate someone else to do the same, similar to the Ice Bucket Challenge that raised millions for ALS research.
One hundred percent of donations go directly to Stand Up To Cancer, a 501(c)(3) organization that funds collaborative cancer research with the goal of detecting and treating all cancers.
“Cancer doesn’t wait, and neither will we,” Malone said. “Together, as a community, we can change lives. We can save lives. And we can most definitely stand up to cancer.”
Donations can be made online at fundraise.standuptocancer.org/fundraiser/6856855.