Chip Gainesis using his platform to support two important causes, while also showing love to his beloved friendGabriele “Gabe” Grunewald.
Over the weekend, Gabe’s husband Justin Grunewald revealed on Instagram that his wife’s 10-year battle with salivary gland and thyroid cancer had become so severe that she wasreadmitted to the ICUupon experiencing septic shock.
By Sunday, Justin said she had been moved home to for hospice care.
“Cancer is ugly and it is mean and it doesn’t fight fair. This has gotten extremely personal,” he continued, before announcing his plans to match donations in the #ChipInChallenge.
“That is 3x the power of your generosity in the fight against cancer,” he explained. “Together, we’re going to fight for those who are fighting for just one more day. This is for those precious kids at St. Jude.. we are pulling for you!”
Finishing his note, Chip sweetly gave his friend a shout out. “And to my beautiful friend Gabe.. we love you and we are here for you every step of the way.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, theFixer Upperstar had nearly hit his $500,000 goal — raising over $436,000 within two hours of posting on Instagram.
Gabriele Grunewald/Instagram
This isn’t the only way that Chip hasshown his support for Gabe and Justinduring this difficult time.
After learning that Gabe had been readmitted to the ICU, Chip shared a heartfelt messageon Twitteron behalf of himself and hiswife Joanna, writing “To @gg_runs. We love you. You changed us forever, and til we meet again, we promise to be #BraveLikeGabe.”
He also wrote a short but sweet comment on Justin’s Instagram post after he announced that his wife was being moved to comfort care.
“Love you @gigrunewald!! All I ever want is to be #braveLikeGabe. -til we meet again,” wrote Chip.
“She made it home in time to see some extra special finishes @chipgaines, @joannagaines, and @brockwayne put on our new condo to make it feel like home,” he revealed. “For that, I have no words. #bravelikegabe #runningonhope #keeprunningonhope”
Chip first met Gabe in New York City, while on tour for his bookCapitalGaines.In apersonal essaypublished in the summer issue of his Joanna’s magazine,Magnolia Journal,Chip explained that he saw Gaberunning through Central Park with Justin.
He struck up a conversation with the couple, asking them “how long it would take for an out-of-shape guy like me totrain for a marathon.” The couple was happy to chat and Gabe told Chip he could be a qualified runner in about four months.
Chip then learned about Gabe’s condition, and began speaking to her about the foundation she started a foundation calledBrave Like Gabe, whosemission is to support rare cancer research and “empower cancer survivors through physical activity.”
He explained that meeting Gabe “felt like a call to action.” So he went back home to Waco and started planning for the Silo District Marathon, now in its second year.
Chip Gaines running in the marathon.Joanna Gaines/Instagram
However, he didn’t want to just plan the marathon. He wanted to run in it, despite being “out of shape” — and Gabe agreed to help coach him.
“I hadn’t worked out in about a decade, and I was easily 20 pounds overweight,” Chip wrote. “That’s not really the ideal starting place for a budding marathoner. But what I did know felt bigger than all of the very good reasons I wasn’t qualified.”
RELATED VIDEO: Chip &Joanna GainesGive a Last Farewell on ‘Fixer Upper’ Finale: ‘I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying’
This year, Chip said a combined 6,000 people ran in the marathon, half-marathon and 5k races, and they raised over $300,000 for both a local cancer treatment center and the Brave Like Gabe foundation.
“We host this race because I believe when we do hard things together, we can accomplish the impossible!” he wrote in alater blog poston Magnolia.com. “Whether it’s to push our bodies further than we ever have before, or raise a boatload of money to help find a cure for this thief called cancer.”
source: people.com
