When Bridgeport’s Jack Rollins celebrated his 5^th birthday Feb. 5 and Harrison County proclaimed the day in his honor, thousands of dollars were raised to help the youngster and his family in his battle with cancer. What really made the day unique was that the help and the celebration in Jack’s honor went well beyond the borders of Harrison County to parts all over the state.

 

In fact, it’s probably safe to say Jack was being celebrated beyond West Virginia. Next month, the effort to help Jack Rollins will go to an entirely new geographical level. In fact, the goal to help raise funds is looking to conclude at the Arctic Circle.

 

On March 11, the 6633 Arctic Ultra Race will take place with a familiar name to many in the area – who doesn’t live in this area – will be doing the competition in honor of Jack Rollins. Frank Fumich, who lives in Virginia and has some very well-known family here in Harrison County, is taking on the task of completing the 350 mile course from the Great Plains, Yukon in Canada, to the Arctic Ocean.

 

By the way, he has eight days to complete the race in temperatures that will almost certainly be at body-numbing wind chill levels. Oh, he also can’t have any help. All of his supplies and everything he needs will have to pulled or carried on a sled.

 

Fumich sounds a bit crazy. Truth be told, in a good way Fumich is crazy about helping others. He has a heart as big as the deeds he accomplishes - which is no small feat.

 

As was documented on this site and media throughout the area, thousands followed Fumich as he attempted to ride his bicycle across America last June in a set time to raise funds for a family and person he never met named Ryan Diviney.

 

The one thing they had in common was West Virginia University where Frank graduated from and where Ryan Diviney was a student. Fumich learned of how Diviney was viciously assaulted to the point that today he resides in a vegetative state; needing constant and expensive medical care.

 

Fumich decided he could help. And he did it through the race where he only failed in the sense that he didn’t make it to the actual finish line. He succeeded in the more important barrier of providing hope to the Diviney family, who greeted him as he concluded his race short of the goal in Clarksburg. It was a success in that it raised more than $100,000 to help the family. Beyond that, it brought much needed attention to the Diviney family’s situation for those who would want to help in the months and years ahead.

 

“I got tapped back into the Harrison County community and that part of the state doing the race for Ryan,” said Fumich. “It was there that one of their family friends reached out to me after the race and shared the story of Jack Rollins and told me that perhaps if I did another race to think of little Jack.”

 

The story intrigued Fumich. He started following Jack Rollins on Facebook and social media. Almost immediately, even without a race planned, Fumich realized that his next race would be done to honor Jack and hopefully help provide much-needed assistance for Jack Rollins and his family.

 

“How could you not want to help this child? You see his picture and you just fall in love with him,” said Fumich.

 

On his own, Frank Fumich initiated contact with Jack’s mother Brooke Rollins and Jack’s grandmother Belinda Cook Adkins – two of the best people I’ve ever had the chance to talk to. And that officially set the stage for a race that, well, even the pictures you can see below in a link to the race’s Web site make you wonder, again, about Fumich’s sanity.

 

“The race number is based on the latitude and longitude of the Arctic Circle … I’ll run straight north for 350 miles and as far as training there’s only so much you can do, including doing a lot of running,” said Fumich. “Honestly, I’m a little behind the 8-ball as the race is not too far away and I just confirmed being in it a few weeks ago.”

 

Fumich admits he’s worried about the weather. He said earlier this week that it was negative-37 degrees on parts of the course and he doesn’t believe March will be much warmer. He has to cover 45 miles a day and that’s not his biggest worry. Fumich said he perspires heavily and while that’s not an issue in most races, sweating too much in this event will eventually freeze.

 

“The type of gear to wear and the cold is scaring me more than the distance,” said Fumich.

 

The fear, he admits, is secondary. The consequences, he added, are minor compared to what he knows freshly turned five-year-old Jack Rollins is going through.

 

“I tell myself to think about what Jack is enduring and don’t worry. He’s facing and battling harder than anything than I’ll face there. I have six-year-old twin girls and I wonder what I would do if it was one of them. I think about that when I’m training,” said Fumich. “When I was riding for Ryan, there were times I was as miserable as anyone can be, but I would start thinking that Ryan would trade places with me or anyone in that race if he could. I know little Jack would love to be up there too. Yeah, that thought process motivates you more than you can imagine.”

 

Fumich’s last race and the one he’s doing next month for Jack Rollins aren’t his first where the goal was to help others. He has competed in events that benefited more than one children’s charity, did a run from Washington, D.C. to Boston where he raised $78,000 for the Boston bombing victims, did an event aiding St. Jude's Children's Hospital and more when he decided perhaps it would be a good thing to be able to do a race or event where he knew exactly who was getting the funding.

 

“I think the older I get, and I’m 48, it makes it a little more meaningful when you can hand that check over and see what it means. It makes the challenge more meaningful and the pursuit to me more worthy,” said Fumich. “What it boiled down to was finding someone to help, particularly after my mother passed away. I knew if my mother was here, and even though I’m sure she sees what’s going on, she would be so proud to see me coming in at the finish line of those events. Family is very important to me.”

 

Here’s the other thing about Frank Fumich and it’s a big reason he’s able to get the word out and help raise large amounts of funds in these types of endeavors. And that’s his family from here in Harrison County.

 

Frank Fumich is the grandson and nephew of the very well-known “Gramma and Ginga,” a pair of Facebook celebrities. Gramma is 101-year-old Genevieve Musci and Ginga is her 97-year-old sister Arlene Cody Bashnett.

 

Fumich set up a Facebook page where the pair are often videotaped on unfiltered journeys or at various locations. The commentary, lightly sprinkled with profanity, is off-the-wall funny and has caught the attention of plenty of folks. In fact, the Facebook page has more than 211,000 followers who enjoy seeing the world through their eyes and words. And Fumich said he can get out a huge message to people – including Jack's – through their unique celebrity on Facebook thanks to their sizable audience.

 

“My Gramma, Ginga and my mother were born and raised there. My dad was born and raised in Morgantown, while I was born and raised in Virginia,” said Fumich. “They’re my ties to the area as well as West Virginia University.”

 

And now he has another tie. His name is Jack Rollins. 

 

A child he had never met is a child he will help. It's what Frank Fumich does. He stoops down to help those in need and because of that he stands taller than anyone I know.

 

Click HERE to go to the donation page for Frank’s race where all proceeds, which are tax deductible, will go to the Rollins family.

 

Click HERE for a page selling t-shirts to benefit Jack Rollins.

 

Click HERE for the race’s official Web site.

 

Click HERE for the Facebook page Jack Rollins’ journey.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Frank Fumich doing some training for the upcoming race, while Jack Rollins and mom Brooke are shown in the second photo. In the third photo, Fumich is shown presenting the Diviney family with funds raised from his last big effort, while the sled he'll be pulling with the Team Jack logo is shown next. And in the bottom picture, local celebrities "Gramma and Ginga" show up their Jack Rollins shirts as they, too, have joined the fight.