Dear Family and Friends,                                    

It’s that time of the year again where the Landheer and Workman family gear up for the annual Great Strides Walk to Cure Cystic Fibrosis! 

As most of you know, Mitchell and Jessi both have a disease called Cystic Fibrosis, a life-threatening genetic disease for which there is not a cure. This disease affects our lungs, digestion, and life expectancy. Mitchell (30) and Jessi (35) were diagnosed 29 years ago, and each and every day we commit our lives to fighting this disease. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has led the way in the fight against CF and fueled extraordinary medical and scientific progress. Working alongside the CF community, the CF Foundation has helped advance the development of more than a dozen CF treatments, and added decades of life for those with CF.  Thanks to this work, the life expectancy of someone born with CF has doubled in the last 30 years. Our goal is still to help find a cure for this disease, so that CF will not stand for “Cystic Fibrosis” but “cure found”!

Jessi recently resigned from her job at Corewell Health and has leaned into supporting the family business. She is grateful that this change is also allowing her more time to be home with the kids! 

Mitchell is still working at his accounting job at AirLife in Grand Rapids. He continues to sit on the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Board for the NW Ohio-Michigan Chapter as their Outreach Chair. He and Katelyn are excited to announce that they are expecting a baby coming August 2025! 

Jessi and Mitchell both have been blessed with an extremely healthy year and have been able to continue with their scaled back treatment regimen thanks to all of the medication advancements in the last few years. 

For 69 years, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has been striving toward their mission to cure cystic fibrosis and raise awareness for this rare, genetic, life-shortening disease that makes it difficult to breathe and adds hours of daily therapies to maintain a normal life. Nearly every approved CF drug therapy available now has been made possible because of the Foundation and its supporters. It’s inspiring to think back 29 years ago when Mitchell and Jessi were first diagnosed to see how much progress has been made in the daily therapies and medication they take. Four and a half years ago, a new drug came out, called Trikafta. Mitchell and Jessi have both been taking this medication since January 2020 and the results from this therapy cannot even be expressed through words. Both of their lung functions continue to improve dramatically, they have seen some of their symptoms disappear, and their strict treatment regime has been reduced to a much more manageable schedule. This new drug has literally changed the trajectory of their disease and their life. We thank all of the support we receive year to year, but we truly mean it when we say that to see this drug work miracles before our eyes would not be possible without the donations, prayers, and support from each of you every single year.  

This year’s Great Strides Walk is going to be held on May 18 at Lakeshore Middle School in Grand Haven. More information about the walk can be found at fightcf.cff.org. We know it is impossible for all of you to make it to the walk, but we would like to ask you for a special favor of a contribution that will help support the research of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. It is important for you to know that the CF Foundation is a very efficient organization. Checks can be made payable to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and we have enclosed a self-addressed envelope for your convenience. We just want to thank you in advance from the bottom of our hearts. Words cannot express what your love and support mean to our family!

Love,

Mitchell and Jessi 

(And of course, the rest of our tribe: Dave & Pam, Ben, Malory, Ellis, Katelyn, Future Baby Landheer, Nathan & Mya, Jon, Anita and Jayden)