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Castillo joins fight against Crohn’s & Colitis
., . - Wednesday, October 07, 2009

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Atascosa County native Jackie Castillo invites the public to a fund-raising event on Saturday, Oct. 17 at San Antonio’s Cowboys Dancehall. The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America’s (CCFA) Half Marathon Training Program Team Challenge and Cowboys are teaming up for their 1st annual Texas Size Tailgate.

Come out and watch The University of Texas take on Oklahoma, while raising critical funds for research, patient education and to ultimately find a cure for Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. Known collectively as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), these painful, chronic illnesses affect approximately 1.4 million Americans, including some 140,000 children under the age of 18.

There will be fun, food and so much more at this event, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Game time is 11 a.m. Tailgating will be outside in the Cowboys Dancehall parking lot, 3030 NE Loop 410. You will be able to bring coolers and other necessities. You must purchase a tailgating spot in order to tailgate. The football game will be viewed inside.

General admission is free and open to the public to watch the game in Cowboys Dancehall. To purchase a tailgating package visit www.active.com/donate/lv09southtexas/tailgate 09 on the Internet.

For further details, or for offline purchases contact Jackie Castillo at (210) 683-0177 or at ccfa.tc.tailgate@gmail.com.
More on Jackie

Jackie Castillo is a volunteer for CCFA, a non-profit organization that has a half-marathon training program called Team Challenge. This is her second season training with them.

“I started volunteering with this program because I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis (an autoimmune disease) five years ago in December. I was looking for outreach to get me through knowing that I have an incurable disease. This program has now became a part of my life because I get to meet other patients and their family and friends, who go through the same thing as me,” said Castillo.

In order to pay for research, patient education and provide patient programs, Castillo and others raise funds for each half marathon they get involved with. Castillo and 41 other participants are training and fundraising for their Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Las Vegas in December.

“It did take a while for me to open up about my disease, but I take it as a mission in life to spread the word about it,” added Castillo.
More on CCFA

The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America’s mission is to cure Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and to improve the quality of life of children and adults affected by these diseases. CCFA was founded in 1967.