It all started with a promise. Anoka, Minnesota, high schooler Dylan Witschen was diagnosed with a brain tumor and treated at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Despite successful treatment and several months of clear scans, Dylan was diagnosed with a second, far deadlier brain cancer on his 16th birthday. As his body grew weaker, he devoted himself to St. Jude fundraising.
Dylan asked his family to promise to continue to raise money for St. Jude to ensure that no other kids went through what he did. A few months later, on June 9, 2010, Dylan passed away. Since then, his family, friends and community have kept his promise alive.
“Meeting Dylan impacted me a lot,” said John Schmidt, family friend of the Witschens. “His family was living my worst nightmare. When I heard Dylan’s promise, I knew that I had to do something.”
Schmidt turned to his colleagues at Chris Fritch Team, eXp Realty, and asked them to carry on Dylan’s promise.
“We don’t do anything halfway,” chuckled Schmidt, who is a lead buyer’s agent for the Chris Fritch Team. “It was a blessing to have our entire team support St. Jude and go tell Dylan’s parents, Ed and Debbie, that we wanted to amplify the promise that they made to Dylan.”
In the past six years, the Chris Fritch Team has done just that. Each team member donates $100 on behalf of their clients when a home is sold, and the team has expanded its support by hosting golf tournaments and other events in support of the kids at St. Jude.
“We didn’t know how we were going to actually deliver on the promise we made in that first year,” reflects Schmidt. “But we quickly realized, it’s not hard. Our community is incredible and has come to support us. There isn’t one person on our team that hasn’t given 100% to keeping Dylan’s promise alive.”
