My name is Theresa Sherry, and I am the Founder of the Tenacity Project, a non-profit organization that uses lacrosse as a vehicle to provide all girls access to opportunities to learn, play and live with tenacity.

Growing up watching sports with my parents, we always admired the championship athletes shown on tv, but I learned from an early age that real heroes are people found off screen. I have been lucky enough to be around someone who embodies the word hero in every sense of the word: Randy Gross.

Randy spent several weeks at Ground Zero post 9/11 leading Canine Search Specialist teams in effort to find survivors or remains after the terrorist attack. In 2022, Randy was diagnosed with cander, that is tied to his exposure during that time, joining thousands who have received similar news and diagnoses since 2001. According to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention, “An estimated 400,000 people were exposed to toxic contaminants, risk of physical injury, and physically and emotionally stressful conditions in the days, weeks, and months following the attacks. According to the American Association for Cancer Research, “out of that 400,000 people, the number of responders, specifically, is over 91,000 all of whom were exposed to the toxic mixture of dust, smoke, and chemicals arising from the wreckage.”

The positive impact the Gross family has had on others has extended into their local community and to the sport of lacrosse, reaching hundreds of girls and young women through local youth programs in El Dorado Hills, California, at Oak Ridge High School and through the non-profit, Tenacity Project. Randy was a part of a group of people who introduced girls to the game who are now thriving college players and some of the best to have played the sport from the area- including his own daughter, Brianne Gross.

Randy Gross is a symbol of an American hero, and he completely embodies the word tenacity. The qualities of persistence, determination, and the ability to outlast hard things- this has been Randy on and off the field, in the firehouse, in his home, and in his faith. In the past 18 months, these qualities have helped Randy surpass several physical limits his diagnosis initially represented. On Sunday, March 17, 2024, Randy passed away. We hope you will consider supporting his family with a contribution here today.