Mountain Brook residents asked to ‘SMACK’ each other for cancer research

Mountain Brook residents young and old are “SMACKing” each other around town, but it’s all for a good cause. Since Jan. 20, “Smack Out Cancer” magnets have been flying off the shelves at Mountain Brook Sporting Goods. Proceeds from the magnets, in the shape of a kiss with the words “SMACK CANCER” scrawled across, will fund research at the Alabama Center for Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders.

As part of the campaign, participants are asked to SMACK the magnets on the cars, mailboxes and lockers of their friends along with the instructions. From there, recipients are asked to purchase their own magnets and SMACK others, effectively creating a “rainfall effect.”

“Children’s of Alabama is doing the same research as the other, bigger, hospitals that are better known nationwide,” said Heather Lebensburger, the fundraiser’s organizer. “A lot of people don’t know the great things we have going on in our own backyard.”

That research, said Lebensburger, includes the work of St. Baldrick’s Scholar Dr. Gregory Friedman, a Children’s physician, who discovered that injecting a genetically altered version of the herpes virus into children’s brains can kill brain tumor cells.

Lebensburger said she chose to get involved based on the work of her husband, Dr. Jeffrey Lebensburger, a pediatric hematologist/oncologist at Children’s of Alabama.

“They’re doing amazing things at Children’s and UAB,” she said. “Along with the fundraising aspect, the awareness component of the campaign will help raise awareness for what they're doing. If people donate to this cause, they will know the money will stay right here in the community.”

So far, the awareness and fundraising campaign is off to a great start. All 150 of the first packets ordered, 300 magnets total, sold out in a matter of hours, said Lebensburger. The second order sold out just as quickly. The group is hoping to sell its last batch of 200 packs completely as well, she said.

The event will continue through February. A SMACK magnet pack costs $5 for two magnets and two flyers.

For more information, visit the Smack Out Cancer Facebook page.