OUR STORY

Nearly 40 years ago, our brother Rich was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). He was 18 years old, had just graduated high school, was coaching girls' softball, and was ready to tackle the world. It all started when he visited the clinic due to some abnormal bruising. The next thing we knew, he was referred to Children's Hospital Colorado immediately. During that visit, it was confirmed that Rich had Leukemia (ALL). Based on his age and the type of leukemia, the doctors gave him six months to live. It was a complete shock to the Ihme family, a family of five boys with Rich being the second oldest. Rich fought hard and proved the doctors wrong, living and battling for two years before his life—and our lives—changed forever in 1985.

Fast forward to 2003, the Ihme family decided to host a golf tournament. We had a couple of hundred dollars left over at the end of the tournament, so we decided to donate the proceeds to Children's Hospital Colorado in memory of our brother, Rich Ihme. It was then that a spark ignited in our family and friends, and we have since raised over $440,000 for cancer research and blood disorders. With the success we have had over the years, we decided to start the Ihme Foundation in 2019. The Ihme Foundation is ready to take the next step and go big for cancer and blood disorders. We want to help in any way we can to fight leukemia and these blood disorders that robbed our family. We want to help you fight cancer so you don't have to go through what our brother and family did.