Catchy Slogan For Stopping Cancer

For one Puyallup High School alum, saving one nut at a time is the way to make a difference.

Ryan Krohn is the vice president of Sacks of Love, a non-profit foundation dedicated to raising awareness for testicular cancer.

Sacks of Love is the brainchild of two Puyallup High School swim team alums, Nick Ost and Chris Utterback, friends of Krohn’s sister. Krohn decided to get involved as well, with the organization earning non-profit status in Washington state in 2012.

“Our overarching goal is to raise awareness for male health issues, but for now we’re focusing on testicular cancer and hopefully able to get research funds soon,” Krohn said.

Krohn’s grandfather survived prostate cancer, which helped inspire him to explore men’s health awareness.

While Krohn, Ost and Utterback aren’t intensely familiar with testicular cancer, they had an interest in a disease they found to be undervalued. Now in college, they are working relentlessly to spread the word, partnering with other for-profit organizations such as Claro Candles and Strideline Socks in Seattle. They also sell T-shirts, sweatshirts and wristbands.

“It’s whatever we can do, when we have time,” Krohn said. “Everything is coming together, really. It’s overwhelming at times, but it’s really cool.”

Testicular cancer affects men mostly between the ages of 16 and 30 and has a high success rate--with early detection. Krohn said chemotherapy is the main option for treatment.

Men who have the disease might feel some embarrassment about it, but one of Sacks of Love’s missions is to break the negative stigma with humor.

“The name and logo are kind of pushing the envelope, but we’re in a day and age where we’re able to do that,” said Krohn. “It’s catchy.”

Krohn hopes that Sacks of Love will soon earn non-profit 501c(3) status nationally, which would expand their opportunities to get sponsorships. They are in the process of revamping their website, potentially with a designer from North Carolina who survived the disease himself.

“People have bought stuff from our website from all over the country, and I just thought, ‘Wow. How did we get all the way over there?’” Krohn said.

Becoming a nationally-known organization is no small order for the all-college-student group of directors, which is on an entirely volunteer basis. The profits they earn go to research, support for patients and survivors, and awareness products and events. Krohn is majoring in finance and marketing at Western Washington University, which he said has helped him with the workings of a non-profit.

“A lot of people, when they come up to our booth, they’re like, ‘Oh, you guys are so young!’” Krohn said of his experiences tabling at street fairs like Meeker Days.

The biggest event upcoming for Sacks of Love is a 5K walk/run on Oct. 19 at Heritage Park in Puyallup. The organization is currently seeking sponsorships, with different incentives for increasing donation levels. About 50-100 people have signed up so far.

“Hopefully we’ll get to do two big events per month, if we can get more people involved,” Krohn said.