On December 22, 2019, just one month after his 50th birthday, Carlos J. Perez-Albuerne died after living for two and a half years with incurable lung cancer. As they approached the first anniversary of his death, his close-knit family was looking for a way to honor his memory.

Carlos was a beloved husband, father, brother, son and friend. He was active in his community and at the peak of his professional career as an attorney. Carlos was passionate about many issues and died before he could realize the full impact that he hoped to have. Those causes include immigration, women’s rights, the support of LGBTQ+ community, diversity, equity, and inclusion, to name a few. His family hopes to find ways to support each of these causes in the coming years.

One family member came up with the idea to collect funds to donate to a charitable institution that was doing work that was important to Carlos. This first year, they have chosen to honor Carlos’ story and make GO2 for Lung Cancer the beneficiary of their efforts. As a never-smoker and at the young age of 47 when he was diagnosed, lung cancer was not on Carlos’ radar. His family was blindsided by his diagnosis and never dreamed this was something they would have had to face.

Like many people, they were unaware of how prevalent and deadly lung cancer is.  “If we were able to detect the disease earlier, we would have had more treatment options and our chances at a better outcome would have been significantly higher”, shared his wife Shawn.

The family launched the Carlos Cares campaign with a goal to raise $50,000 for GO2 for Lung Cancer’s early detection efforts by Memorial Day, hoping to take advantage of a match from an anonymous donor. They surpassed that goal within 3 weeks and with over a month left in the campaign, recently expanded their goal to $70,000 to deepen their impact.

When asked recently about the effect this fundraiser has had on the family, they shared,

“We have all been surprised, overwhelmed and humbled by the generous response to our fundraiser. For us, it serves to highlight just how important and impactful Carlos was within the various communities throughout his life. We believe our success is a testament to the man he was and the life he lived.”

They share the following thoughts for other families considering a fundraising campaign to honor a loved one.

“Don’t be overwhelmed by the idea of holding a fundraiser like this and don’t be afraid to share an honest, vulnerable story. Definitely don’t underestimate people’s generosity.

You don’t have to re-create the wheel, GO2 for Lung Cancer has the infrastructure to help you set up your fundraiser–take advantage of all of their resources. In our experience, GO2 for Lung Cancer has been very responsive and helpful in all ways. They have made themselves available to help at every turn.”

To donate to Carlos Cares, visit their fundraising page here.

To learn more about starting a fundraising campaign for your loved one, visit our Community Fundraising site.