Susan Crenshaw BurroughsSusan Crenshaw Burroughs, age 61, passed away on April 22, 2022, after a lifetime of battling complications from cystic fibrosis.
Susan leaves a huge legacy of support and inspiration to people living with cystic fibrosis and their families. She recognized a need among CF patients to connect with other families and patients for support, and started a quarterly newsletter called “Reaching Out.” In 1998, as her own health was declining, she saw that many CF patients and families were compromising care because of being unable to afford medications, nutritional supplements, or other medical treatments. She created the CF Reaching Out Foundation to help provide financial assistance to these CF families.
Susan will be remembered by all who knew her for her strength of will, her drive and determination, her attention to detail, her warm and loving heart, and her unwavering support for others with cystic fibrosis.  Before her death, Susan chose BreatheStrong CF to carry on her legacy of helping CF families.
Without Susan at the helm, the CF Reaching Out Foundation is in process of dissolving, and all remaining funds will be distributed to BreatheStrong CF.
These funds, and future donations, will support BreatheStrong CF programs that directly benefit people living with cystic fibrosis.  For more information, please contact Becky Penuel at becky@breathestrongcf.org or 404-202-6034.

BreatheStrong CF helps people with CF run their best race to a longer, stronger life. Our goals are to:

  • Promote a physically active lifestyle for individuals living with cystic fibrosis
  • Provide financial support to individuals and organizations within the cystic fibrosis community
  • Create opportunities for action and service for members of the cystic fibrosis community
  • Serve as an educational resource for the cystic fibrosis community and to the general public

ABOUT BreatheStrong CF:
BreatheStrong CF was started in 2007 by two marathon-running pediatric pulmonologists, Dr. Peter Scott and Dr. Steven Julius, as an awareness raising and fundraising running team, 65ROSES. They wanted to honor their CF patients, and recognize that the effort required to train for a marathon is similar to the effort their CF patients required just to live.

BreatheStrong CF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and initially donated funds to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, CF Reaching Out Foundation and other organizations that assisted kids and adults with CF and their families. In 2016 BreatheStrong CF created the BreatheStrong exercise grant program to encourage and support healthy physical activities that can lead to longer, stronger lives for CF patients. In 2020, BreatheStrong CF added the Critical Needs Initiative for kids and adults with CF and their households who lost income because of the pandemic and needed help with groceries, utilities, or other basic needs. The Critical Needs Initiative currently focuses on food insecurity and grocery assistance for CF families.  This program has been renamed the Susan C. Burroughs Critical Needs Initiative.