In 1999, Jacksonville news anchor and avid runner Donna Deegan was diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time.
Viewers across Northeast Florida watched her face the disease with grace and grit — even running a local road race while undergoing treatment. She believed it would be a single chapter in her life, something to overcome and then leave behind.
But when the disease returned in 2002, Donna began to see the true cost of breast cancer — not only in her own life but in the lives of those reaching out to her. Through an online journal she created to share updates on her health, she began hearing from others in treatment — families who were not only healing from illness but struggling to survive the financial impact that came with it. Parents choosing between medicine and rent. Patients facing impossible choices just to stay afloat.
Determined to lift that burden, Donna founded The DONNA Foundation in June of 2003 to provide hope, support, and financial relief to those living with breast cancer.
At first, the Foundation’s mission was local — helping families in Northeast Florida pay their most critical bills during treatment. But it quickly became something more.
As a runner, Donna began selling “Run with Donna” shirts at community races to raise funds. One day, standing beside a table at a local race expo, a simple idea was born: what if people could run for the cause itself? That idea grew into a partnership with Olympian Jeff Galloway and world-renowned oncologist Dr. Edith Perez, Donna’s physician and running partner. Together, they envisioned something that had never been done before — a marathon dedicated to fighting breast cancer.
After two years of planning with the City of Jacksonville and Mayo Clinic, the inaugural 26.2 with DONNA – The National Marathon to Fight Breast Cancer was announced for February 2008.
But just months before the starting gun, Donna received her third diagnosis — a metastasis to her lung. It was a devastating blow that forced her to confront the limits of fear and the power of perspective. She turned inward, embracing meditation, mindfulness, and gratitude. “Every morning is a new chance to choose love over fear,” she would say. That choice — to live fully, not fearfully — became the heart of her healing and the soul of The DONNA Foundation.
On race morning, more than 7,000 runners from all 50 states and 12 countries gathered on the campus of Mayo Clinic. Donna, still in treatment, had planned to run the race relay-style. But as the sun rose, she turned to Dr. Perez and asked, “What if I wanted to run the whole thing?” Dr. Perez smiled and replied, “I couldn’t think of anything better.”
And she did. Donna ran all 26.2 miles, lifted by a current of love that seemed to carry her feet above the ground. That day, a movement began — one rooted not in fear, but in love.
Through her own transformation, Donna discovered that love — not fear — is the most powerful medicine. That belief inspired the Foundation to rename its signature event The National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer — because living well is not about fighting harder, but about embracing life with courage, compassion, and community.
Since that first race, proceeds from the marathon have contributed more than $3.3 million to Mayo Clinic in support of groundbreaking research in genomics and precision medicine, helping advance treatments that bring new hope to patients everywhere.
The DONNA Foundation’s impact has continued to grow. Through the DONNA CareLine, launched in 2016, the Foundation now provides case management and debt relief services to patients across the country. To date, more than 21,000 families have been served, with nearly $7 million in financial assistance secured.
The Foundation’s work extends beyond financial relief. A year-round series of events — including the DONNA 5K at TPC Sawgrass and the DONNA Mother’s Day 5K — connects communities in celebration of survivorship and learning, empowering families to live well through Survivorship, Education, and Awareness programming. These gatherings remind us that healing is not only about extending life, but enriching it — together.
Through it all, the heart of The DONNA Foundation remains the same as it was on day one — a promise born from Donna’s own journey: to create a world where breast cancer patients are freed from the fear that often shadows their treatment, and where every day offers a new chance to heal, to live, and to love.
