She hosted epic tailgates each year, recalls daughter Maddie. “We’d have bounce houses, ice cream, a band in our backyard. For her, I think it was one day that wasn't focused around the next appointment or the next scan. She could just celebrate life and another year around the sun.”
After her passing, Stefanie’s friends and family were determined to continue her tradition while raising money for the Stefanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Center (SSCBC) at the OSUCCC – James. Says Sue Fitz, Stefanie’s sister, “We wanted to keep that momentum going and keep her memory alive by doing what she always asked everybody to do: to celebrate life and don't let this disease define you; to take each day and be grateful for it.”
The annual Stef's Celebrate Life Tailgate began in a former neighbor's backyard in 2011 and ended with a pink-tie gala at Juniper rooftop event space in 2019. During that span, the tailgate raised over $1 million. The final celebration at Juniper marked a fitting conclusion to the event’s remarkable eight-year run. “It was so beautiful. The sky was this stunning pink and we were up on the roof. You just knew my mom was looking down,” remembers Maddie. “It felt like her way of thanking everybody for their hard work through the years.”
Each year, organizers learned about equipment and other purchases that could make a difference for breast cancer patients and survivors at the Spielman Breast Center, then voted on which projects to invest in. “We’d learn about how the project would be helpful to patients — whether it would increase the speed at which they could get in for treatment or increase the diagnostic capabilities — and then we would vote on the things we wanted to purchase. We’d set our goal for the year, which kept increasing as we set our sights higher,” says Sue.
Thanks to Stef’s Celebrate Life Tailgate and its stalwart volunteers, purchases benefitting patients have included: a tomosynthesis mammogram machine and an ultrasound unit, both critical for breast cancer diagnosis; prone therapy boards that provide a more comfortable, accurate radiation treatment experience; renovated changing rooms at the SSCBC; a lymphography camera that helps predict the progression of lymphedema in breast cancer patients; and The James Mammography at Worthington, the newest satellite location offering complete diagnostics.
All of this would make Stefanie proud. “This is what Stef was all about,” says Sue. “She didn’t dwell on her illness; she looked at each day as a gift and crammed so much good into every day. That is her legacy that we can learn from. What a huge lesson for all of us.”