EDEN PRAIRIE, MN - C.H. Robinson has announced that employees Paul “MO” Moline and Jim Round have been named to Fortune magazine’s prestigious “Heroes of the 500” list. Fortune’s list identifies the employees of Fortune 500 companies whose extraordinary acts of bravery, kindness, and selflessness are changing people’s lives. Paul and Jim, who have each worked at C.H. Robinson for more than 20 years, were recognized this year for their long-term support of cancer research organizations.
Moline and Round used their shared history of having parents who each had cancer at the time to create the MJ Event in 2001, a way to raise funds for cancer research. What started as a small golf tournament in the Dallas-Fort Worth area has evolved into a weekend long spectacle with a two-day golf tournament, Texas Hold’Em event, silent auction, concert, and rides around the Texas Motor Speedway with professional NASCAR drivers. According to a press release, the MJ Event has collected more than $5.5 million over the past 15 years.
“Our parents were our heroes, mentors, and best friends. We really wanted to do something to give back, with a passion to cure cancer knowing what both of us had been going through,” said Round, Regional Director of Global Forwarding at C.H. Robinson. “Our goal is to make this a huge event that can draw in different parts of the community and make a large impact on people’s lives.”
For the past five years, the proceeds of the MJ Event go to CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, a national non-profit foundation that works to accelerate the cure for children’s cancer by driving innovation, eliminating research barriers, and solving the field’s most challenging problems. As part of the MJ Event, CureSearch coordinates a fundraising walk at the Texas Motor Speedway,which attracts hundreds of attendees, including children fighting cancer.
Despite all their work to find a cure for cancer, Moline and Round were diagnosed in 2013 with the disease eight days apart from one another. Each has gone through treatment and continue to run the MJ Event each April.
“Thankfully today, Jim and I are both doing better,” said Moline, General Manager of C.H. Robinson’s Fort Worth, TX office. “We have too much left to do, so we were fortunate to beat cancer and get to this point. There are a lot of people who have helped us to get to this level, and we know we’re making a positive impact to a wide range of individuals who have been touched by cancer, but we know the mission has just begun.”
Moline promised that until the two men find a cure, their goal is to not stop.
As someone who has had cancer before, this story touched me personally, and I congratulate Moline and Round on their achievement.
