The Rare Life Award is an annual recognition program created to honor individuals who exhibit courage, leadership, survival, devotion, character and heroism. Candidates are nominated by friends, family and colleagues. For the 2014 awards, 191 individuals were nominated and over 921,000 votes were cast. Their stories and photos are posted online at www.eaglerarelife.com, where visitors vote on these inspirational stories.

A Kentucky native, Lane Goodwin was diagnosed with Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS) at age ten and passed away on Oct. 17, 2012, at age thirteen. ARMS is a type of cancer most often seen with older children and teens. Despite Lane’s life and death battle he never forgot to think about other kids battling cancer. His characteristic “thumbs up” was his way of saying, “I got this.” Lane’s cause gained national attention through a “Thumbs Up” social media campaign that went viral with names like Johnny Depp, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Kevin Durant and Tim Tebow tweeting photos of themselves giving a thumbs up in support of Lane.

During Lane’s final weeks his mom asked him why he thought all of this was happening. Lane replied without hesitation, “Mom, this is what we always prayed for. This will bring awareness and a cure.” Lane proceeded to tell his mom what he wanted her to do, and thus was born the Thumbs Up For Lane Goodwin Childhood Cancer Foundation. Lane was present when Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes visited their home to present them with the Foundation incorporation papers in October 2012.

The foundation focuses on two areas, research into the cause of childhood cancers and research for new, less toxic treatments. In the 16 months since its inception, the foundation has raised $180,000 and helped hundreds of families with emergency assistance, hotel costs, transportation, and second opinions. This donation from Eagle Rare will be the foundation’s largest single donation to date. 2014 Grand Prize recipient Angie Goodwin said, “Getting this honor is a wonderful validation of the efforts of so many, including Lane, who want to see progress toward a cure and a reduction of the stress and suffering whole families experience. This donation also comes on the four-year anniversary of Lane’s diagnosis on March 4, 2010.”

Eagle Rare spokesman Kris Comstock said, “Angie Goodwin truly leads a rare life. Two thumbs up from us. We congratulate and thank her, along our other winners and nominees, for sharing their rare lives with us. Hopefully this award provides them with greater visibility for their invaluable work.”

Eagle Rare will also donate $4,000 to the charities of choice of the six runners up, each one embodying a distinct characteristic of a Rare Life: Courage, Leadership, Heroism, Character, Devotion and Survival. Eagle Rare’s prize donations for 2014 total $64,000.

The six 2014 runners-up are:

• Barbara Capone of Philadelphia, Pa.: Devotion Award for Fanconi Anemia Research Fund
• Marc Dibernardo of Clarksville, Tenn.: Heroism Award for Active Heroes
• Marge Gibson of Antigo, Wisc.: Leadership Award for Raptor Education Group
• Mika Moulton of Palm Springs, Calif.: Survival Award for Christopher’s Clubhouse
• Becky Ortyl of St. Louis, Mo.: Courage Award for Mighty Oakes Heart Foundation
• Karen Shirk of Xenia, Ohio: Character Award for 4 Paws for Ability

About Eagle Rare BourbonEagle Rare Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey is part of the award-winning Buffalo Trace Distillery, a family-owned company based in Frankfort, (Franklin County), Kentucky. The Distillery is a National Historic Landmark with a rich distilling tradition dating back to 1786 and including such legends as E. H. Taylor, Jr., George T. Stagg, Albert B. Blanton, Orville Schupp, and Elmer T. Lee. Eagle Rare Bourbon is a 10-year-old single barrel bourbon that has won multiple awards, including five double gold medals from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. To learn more about Eagle Rare visit www.eaglerarelife.com.

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