Organization that supports firefighters with cancer hosts fundraiser in Cary

When Gurnee firefighter Russ Constantino died of brain cancer in 2009, his family experienced emotional and financial struggles. Their loss inspired them to start a nonprofit organization, called Shield 23, dedicated to helping firefighters, and their families, who are battling cancer.

“We weren’t sure we would be able to keep the house,” Shield 23 Vice President Ryan Constantino, Russ’ son, said. “That’s why we wanted to fstart the foundation so that other families didn’t have to go through the same things we had to go through.”

Constantino founded the foundation in 2018 with his mother Shenan Constantino and sister Lauren Constantino. Since then, they have been able to raise nearly $300,000 to help families in Illinois and across seven states with the burdening costs of fighting cancer.

In McHenry County, Shield 23 has helped firefighters in Algonquin, Lake in the Hills, Barrington Hills and Huntley. The majority of donations have gone to Cook, Lake, McHenry and Kendall counties, Constantino said.

The foundation also has an education program to educate firefighters on what to do if they get cancer and preventive measures they can take, such as cleaning gear and taking showers after fires. Peer support programs also are provided through the foundation for firefighters, families and their departments.

Shield 23 volunteer Karla Cutting said the group’s services helped her when her husband, who was a Skokie firefighter, died last year from cancer after being diagnosed four months earlier.

“Our heads were absolutely spinning,” she said. “We could not hardly process what was happening and how quickly it was happening.”

Cutting discovered Shield 23 at her husband’s early retirement party after he was diagnosed, through a fellow firefighter who’d received help from the organization. Ryan Constantino and his mom arrived at the party and gave Cutting $2,500 to help pay for medical and transportation expenses. Now Cutting wants to “pay it forward” by helping raise awareness and continuing the mission of the foundation.

The World Health Organization classified occupational firefighting as a Group 1 carcinogenic in 2022 – the same category as coal mining. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found firefighters have a 9% higher chance of getting cancer and a 14% higher chance of dying from cancers. About 350 firefighters in the U.S. died last year from cancer, according to Constantino.

With new studies and data coming out, firefighter culture is changing. Things that are burning now are “dramatically different” from a couple of decades ago because of synthetic fibers and chemicals in household items, Constantino said.

“It was a sense of pride to have soot on your gear and it showed how many fires you went to and how potentially how many people you have saved,” he said. “Fast forward to now; we realized that was probably the worst thing you could do.”

Shield 23 is hosting a golf outing starting at 8 a.m. Friday at Chalet Hills Golf Course, 943 Rawson Bridge Road, Cary. This is the group’s second year fundraising at the golf course and they were able to raise $12,000 last year. Constantino hopes to beat that number this year. The event will have food, drinks, a 50/50 raffle and raffle baskets. The last day to register is Friday.

The foundation will host another fundraiser Oct. 19 with a concert at Sideouts Sports Tavern in Island Lake.

For information on Shield 23 and to get involved, visit the group’s website at shield23foundation.org.