School Closed Due to Snow

Justin and his brothers were off of school due to the snow. They made the most of this opportunity and shot 250 baskets yesterday and hope to do the same today as school is closed again.

Blizzard! Justin & Family Snowed In

The Washington DC area had 22 inches of snow and we were stranded. Not a problem for Justin and his three brothers and some neighborhood friends, they shot baskets Saturday and Sunday in the indoor basketball room. Of course Justin and his brothers and Maxi the dog did not sit inside the whole time as they played in the snow both days sledding and playing football. Audrey kept the whole family fed with her good cooking as everyone worked up a good appetite shooting hoops and playing in the snow. Overall, 335 shots were made this weekend.

Night Before The Big Snow Storm

Justin came home from school and some of his friends came over to shoot hoops with him before the snow started. Justin was concerned that he would miss an opportunity to shoot that he stayed outside in the dark with his youngest brother Joey and shot more hoops until we went to dinner around 7PM. Upon returning from dinner, Justin and Joey and myself shot hoops for another hour in our basketball room in the basement. Overall the hoops made that day were 210. It was a good day on Friday.

Justin's Washington Redskins' Night

Last night was an unbelievable night for Justin and Justin's Quest. Jeff Kolodin, a board member of the National Brain Tumor Society invited Justin , myself and Jeff's son, Michael ,invited my third son Jacob to the Washington Redskins' player of the year award ceremony at the Quarterback Club held in Vienna Virginia. That alone was special, but Jeff arranged to have a basketball hoop delivered to the Westin hotel courtesy of Dicks Sporting Goods. The hoop was set up in the lobby of the hotel and all the furniture was moved out. The flooring was tile and perfect for dribbling and shooting hoops. I sat in the lobby of the hotel and watched in amazement as Justin approached current and former Redskins ' players and telling them that he has a brain tumor and that he wants to raise money to find a cure and raise awareness. He asked them to shoot with him. The courage of that little boy was truly amazing and inspirational. The Redskins were in a hurry to sign in but when approached by Justin they were so gracious and eager to talk with Justin and shoot a hoop, autograph Justin's shirt and take a picture with him. As a proud father watching this I was so pleased and honored that these wonderful athletes showed tremendous compassion for Justin and his disease. The players were so into shooting with Justin that many of them took off their suit jackets to shoot with Justin. The following players were so gracious to shoot with Justin: Neal Olkewicz, Virgil Seay, Ricky Ervins, Roy Jefferson, Pat Fisher, Ken Harvey, Albert Haynesworth, DeAngelo Hall, Andre Collins, Charles Mann and Mark Rypien, who unfortunately lost his son to brain cancer almost 11 years ago. We also had men from the armed services and other guests shoot with Justin. This night was so incredible in raising awareness for Justin's Quest. Overall, 150 baskets were made that night. I want to personally thank Dario Savarese who organized the event and was so nice and compassionate to allow Justin shoot hoops with the Redskins and guests.

Justin's Quest- The First Monday

Justin ans his brothers had a long day in school and alot of homework. That did not stop Justin and his brothers from shooting 60 baskets. The word is starting to get out about Justin's Quest and people are getting excited.

Justin's Weekend

This has been a great weekend for Justin's Quest. Justin's grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins were in from out of town for a party. It was a great opportunity for Justin to shoot with his family. They shot alot of baskets together even though it was very cold. Justin is very excited to have his quest launched. Sunday it rained and Justin and his 3 brothers shot hoops in the basketball room in the basement. The total hoops made this weekend was 505.

The Launch of Justin's Quest

Wow!! The day has almost arrived for the launch of Justin's Quest. As you can imagine Audrey and I were so shocked and devastated by the news that Justin was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in March 2009. At that moment, we felt it was our calling from GOD to do something about this terrible disease and make a difference. Justin was so upset by the news but he is so strong mentally and physically that he wants to do everything possible to find a cure for brain tumors and raise awareness. Audrey and I, 2 weeks after receiving Justin's diagnosis went to a National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS) meeting regarding their pediatric initiative at Cord Schlobohm's( a board of director of NBTS and father who sadly lost his daughter Sidney to a brain tumor) house. We were blown away by the support of the people and crushed by the extremely sad stories of the parents at the meeting who lost their children to a brain tumor, we were fighting back tears all night. Justin's diagnosis and that night changed our lives forever as we decided that we WILL make a difference to help find a cure for brain tumors. That night I spoke with some board members about setting up a meeting to see what we can do to fight brain tumors. I met in early June with 3 board members, Jeff Kolodin, Barry Glassman and Cord Schlobohm. They realized at the meeting how serious we were to help find a cure for brain tumors and after kicking around ideas , Justin's Quest was born. Justin's Quest has been alot of work for everyone involved to launch but well worth it. It is our hope and aspirations that Justin's Quest will raise awareness and enough money to help find a cure for brain tumors. It just breaks our hearts to see all the families going through this horrific journey and obviously it has been an incredibly difficult time for our family and Justin to deal with his brain tumor. Justin's Quest is a tribute to the strength and courage of Justin to wear his emotions on his sleeve in a public forum to make a difference. There are not to many people in the world, let alone kids, who will rise to this challenge. That being said, we want to thank so many people who made Justin' Quest possible, first and foremost, Justin who we love so much for taking on this challenge, his 3 brothers Jordan, Jacob and Joey who have been so supportive of Justin, our family and good friends for their love and support, Jeff Kolodin, Barry Glassman, Cord Schlobohm, N. Paul TonThat" Executive Director of NBTS", the whole staff of NBTS and especially Abbey Haber, Glyde and Freddy for producing the video, Steve Buckhantz the narrator of the video and the Wizards basketball play by play announcer for Comcast Sportsnet, Lee Margolies for graphics and logo design, and Renaldo Nehemiah good friend and first athlete to shoot a basket with Justin and anybody else we forgot to mention. We want to urge everyone to follow Justin's Quest and spread the word, shoot a basket for or with Justin or make a donation for this great cause.

Warmest Regards and Thanks For Your Support,

Jon and Audrey Friedlander
Proud parents of Justin