The Organization

Team Thunder Buddy will be participating in the Star Wars™ Half Marathon at Walt Disney World on Saturday,April 22nd and Sunday, 23rd. Some members of the team will be completing the Half marathon on Sunday and other will be completing the Dark Side Challenge consisting of a 10k on Saturday and Half marathon on Sunday.

For their race, Team Thunder Buddy will be raising money for the Nine Line Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to meeting the financial and specialized needs of severely injured soldiers and their families. Nine Line Foundation is unique in that it is an all-volunteer non-profit, with 100% of monies raised going to support the cause! Donations help enhance a wounded veteran’s quality of life by meeting the unique needs of the veteran based upon their injury. Typically, one wounded veteran is sponsored at a time and all funds raised go directly toward that veteran’s specialized needs.

For every donation of $50 or more, the donor can receive a Nine Line shirt. Additionally, the apparel division of Nine Line will match any donations accrued by Team Thunder Buddy up to $20,000. All donations are tax-deductible!

For more information on the foundation and the veterans sponsored, please visit http://ninelinefoundation.org/

Meet the Team

Patrick Mills

Patrick will be completing the Dark Side challenge. He graduated from college in 2009 and entered the U.S. Air Force as an Aircraft Maintenance Officer. After serving almost four years on active duty, he transitioned into the reserves where he currently serves. The race is important to Patrick for two reasons. First, he gets to test his physical abilities and conquer a race that symbolizes a tough personal year. Additionally, he looks forward to raising awareness about Nine Line Foundation, as well as donations to help a wounded veteran. During his time in the military and personal relationships, Patrick has witnessed the many sacrifices that our service members make both physically and mentally. Patrick loves the goal of the Nine Line Foundation because it supports our wounded veterans through a more personalized sponsorship and all funds raised go directly towards the needs of a wounded veteran and their family.

Laura Foley

Laura is honored to be raising funds for veterans during her first half-marathon. While assisting with the veteran rehabilitation program at the Georgia Aquarium, Laura saw first-hand the physical, emotional, and economic struggles wounded veterans endure on a daily basis. Wanting to do more, she signed up to volunteer for Nine Line Foundation in hopes of raising money to serve a veteran in need. When not training, Laura can be found teaching high school science, taking photos, or playing in the waves.

Shade Alabsa

Shade will also be completing the Dark Side Challenge. Shade is currently a graduate student studying Computer Science, works full time, and helps raise his son. This race is important to Shade because this will be his first major race since a serious motorcycle accident in 2012. Shade and Patrick are both training to complete the 10k portion in fewer than 60 mins and the half marathon in just two hours. Having many friends in the Armed Forces, Shade finds assisting Nine Line Foundation important because he would hope that if something happened to one of his friends, they would receive the assistance they deserve for their sacrifices

Ashli Southern

Ashli is hoping to participate in the Dark Side Challenge and the Wine & Dine Lumierre's Challenge in 2017. She is an avid runner currently serving Active Duty in the US Air Force. Her hobbies include distance running and spending time with her horses. She has previously run for fundraisers such as Alex's Lemonade Stand but finds running for Nine Line Foundation particularly special because she is able to know who she is directly helping and loves supporting veterans like herself.  

Team Thunder Buddy would also like to thank Ashlee Weeks for her support in organizing this incredible project.

For team updates and more information about Team Thunder Buddy, visit out Facebook Page at Support Nine Line Foundation: Team Thunder Buddy!