PERSONAL PEP RALLY
Board of Directors
BOARD MEMBERS
FOUNDERS
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Misti Coker- Educator, Entrepreneur
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Jennifer Smith- Edward Jones, Financial Advisor
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Meghan Ables- Arkansas Department of Education, Educator
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Jenna Sexton- Producers Rice Mill
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Marlo Lock- Registered Nurse, Owner of All About You
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Natalie Wilks- Speech Pathologist, CEO Rodan & Fields
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Lana Flowers- Lawyer Producers Rice Mill
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Krystal Holt- Co-owner Polka Dots and The Social Shop
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Kirk Coker- Physician Stuttgart Baptist Health
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Jo Alexander- Arkansas Prison Guard, City Council Stuttgart
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Kyle Noble- Entrepreneur
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Carol Hooks- Branch Office Administrator Edward Jones
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Chris Morgan- Physician Stuttgart Baptist Health
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Kimberly Morgan- Accountant Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce
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Denise Williams- Cancer Survivor
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Brandee Weaver- Computer Consultant, Mack’s Prairie Wings
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Lauren Kennedy- Teacher Stuttgart Public School System
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Kelsi Konecny – Konency Insurance
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Ashten Adamson- Director of Consumer Marketing at Riceland Foods Inc.
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Bryan Hancock- CEO CAVU Aerospace 1/2, caregiver of childhood cancer patient
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Lauren Coker Stringer- Nurse Practitioner Family Medicine and Acute Care Pediatrics, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Mid Delta Health Systems, Caregiver of cancer patient
MISTI COKER, LAUREN MOORE, MARC STRINGER
Misti Coker never dreamed that she would be led to bring JOY and also become an advocate for cancer patients. She had been a teacher for 23 years in the Stuttgart Public School District, where she was literacy director for the last few years. Her job was raising the test scores of a sub-population. She did that through the help of others and by giving each of her students a personal pep rally. Little did she know that years later and because of a cancer diagnosis, she would provide Personal Pep Rallies and send joy all over the United States to cancer patients.
In 2016 her son-in-law Marc Stringer was diagnosed with esophageal cancer at the age of 33. Misti knew she had to bring joy in some way to her daughter Lauren and son-in-law to keep them uplifted during the grueling battle with cancer. She began much like a meal train but a joy train sending packages to them in the mail. After the first 25 treatments, her daughter said, Mom, I want to do this for other cancer patients, and so it began. As of today, Personal Pep Rally sends over 700 packages a month to patients in over 100 cities in Arkansas, 42 states in the United States, and three different countries. Personal Pep Rally also has a scholarship program that gives scholarships to high school seniors impacted by cancer.
To raise money for their mission work, Marc wanted to create a mud run that would encourage team building. He was a coach and always took his teams to one of these races. With the help of Lauren and Misti, they developed a 5k Mud Run Endure the Dirt that is held on the 2nd Saturday in March in the rice fields around Mack's Prairie Wings in Stuttgart, Arkansas. Endure the Dirt brings in over 400 to participate in this unique event. "Cancer Gets Dirty, But We Do Too."
Misti serves on the CARTI Foundation Board of Directors and the American Cancer Society Board in Arkansas. In September, she is representing the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network in Washington, DC, for the Lights of Hope Display. Misti also speaks and shares with audiences her God-filled passion for showing up for those who have been given a diagnosis not of their choosing. When she isn't advocating for cancer patients, you can find her with her husband, daughters, sons-in-law, and their nine grandchildren.
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Lauren Coker Moore, at age 25, became the wife of Marc Stringer, but one year later, they heard the words that no one wants to hear, "You have cancer." At the time, Lauren was an RN in the ER at Arkansas Children's Hospital. She knew almost too much about the medical field because she understood all of the ins and outs of cancer, but that also made her a great caregiver. During the three and half year cancer journey Lauren not only kept working in the emergency room at Children's, taking care of Stringer, but she also received two master's degrees in nursing—one in Acute Care and the other in Pediatric Care. After Stringer's death in January 2020, Lauren took some time off and, later that year, began her nurse practitioner career at Autumn Road Family Practice in Little Rock. In 2022 she fell in love with Matthew Moore and his triplets, married, and moved back to her hometown. Lauren is now an APRN at Mid Delta Health Systems. Lauren continues to help cancer patients in many ways by being an advocate and sharing the accumulated knowledge she acquired through her studies at UAMS and experience. Lauren was a participant in the American cancer Society Best dressed where she raised over $12,000 which will stay in Arkansas to help with lodging and transportation for cancer patients.
BOARD OFFICERS
President- Misti Coker
Vice President- Lana Roth
Secretary- Ashten Adamson
Treasure- Kimberly Morgan
CANCER ADVISORY BOARD
MEET ON THE 3RD MONDAY OF EACH MONTH.
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Renee Robison Cancer Survivor 2 cancers reoccurring breast, Grand Prairie Center
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Jane Ferguson, Cancer Survivor 2 cancers ovarian- breast, Retired SHS Counselor​
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Denise Williams, Cancer survivor-colon, Personal Pep Rally Board Member
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Nancy Duke, Cancer Survivor, Riceland Foods
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Willie Hodges, Cancer Survivor- breast, Producers Rice Mill
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Becky Clemons, Cancer Survivor, Retired Riceland Foods
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Sandra Bush- Cancer Survivor- breast, Retired Realtor
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Joann McCollum- Cancer Survivor- breast, Owner Mack’s Prairie Wings
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Judy Richardson- Cancer Survivor- colon, Florist England Arkansas