l'm extremely excited to announce I will be stepping into the boxing ring for the 6th annual Beltway Brawl. Following in the footsteps of Lindsay Ferrogine and Jon Beard, I will be honoring our girl Jess Beard and raising money to help the fight against cancer.

Jess passed from Metatstatic Breast Cancer in 2022 at the age of 30. When I first met Jess she was "Jay Stach".

She was the new girl at work & I was immediately intimidated. She was stunning, commanded every room she walked in and had a bit of a hard exterior. Jess had this sense of mystery about her, which made everyone want to get to know her. Especially her future husband, Jon, who tried to talk to her with every chance he got.

I don't remember the first time we spoke, but I am honored to be one of the lucky ones that Jess let into her world. She quickly became my sister, best friend & confidant. Jay was my rock.

I was with Jess when she got the call that she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. The doctor didn't give her much information on the call, but she knew. We finally stopped pacing the apartment & took a deep breath.

Jess kept her eyes closed, took a few more deep breaths and when she opened her eyes she said "F*% it, I'm going to fight this". The look in her eyes was unlike I had seen before. Jess had always been a determined one.
But this was another level.

Cancer had no idea who it just messed with.

I watched as Jess found a new meaning to life. To truly live and keep that beautiful smile even in the face of darkness. She embodied love & light.

When I'm struggling I think of her, her strength, and bad assness. I feel her squeeze my left hand & I do what needs to be done. Throughout my journey I hope to channel her strength to find the best within myself. And along the way maybe I can help bring light to her strength & raise money for an amazing cause.

Over the next four months I will be sharing more of Jess's story as I train to face my fears & step into the ring.

She would tell me to be an athlete and win. So that's what I'm going to do

We give everyday men and women the opportunity to fight back against this terrible disease by training for, and competing in charity boxing events to raise money and awareness. To prepare for each event, we combine the efforts of the first time amateur boxing participants, local boxing gyms and volunteers. We hope to help give life saving researchers the resources needed to fully focus their efforts on finding a cure.