Backstory

Keith Salome was diagnosed with renal cell cancer in 2021. During his cancer battle his family decided they would adopt a pug. During the adoption process, as his family searched for the perfect name, his daughter Kennedy who was 4 at the time decided that it should be named Skinny Pig. Ultimately the pug was named Bruno, but that year it was decided that we would name our first ever Jimmy Fund Walk team, Skinny Pig. A year later when the fund was created, the name stuck.

The Skinny Pig Fund was created in August of 2024. Founded by Keith’s family during his battle with cancer, the fund was originally a 5 year commitment to raise $100,000 for Dr. Bradley McGregor’s cancer research at Dana Farber. Unfortunately on September 21st of 2024 Keith passed away. 

On December 1st of 2025 around 15 months after the fund was created the $100,000 goal was officially reached! Throughout those 15 months Dan Foley, Keith’s brother, made an appearance on two podcasts; The Allie G Show, and On The Runs.  Not only that but, Dan and Stef (Keith’s Siblings) ran the 2025 Boston marathon for team Skinny Pig in honor of their brother both getting new personal bests! Later in the year Dan ran the New York City Marathon with Alex Karwoski for the team! 

As Dan had said on an episode of the On The Runs podcast, our ultimate goal is to raise $1 million. This goal however will be done in phases, since our first big milestone has already been reached, the fund plans to sign a new contract with Dana Farber to raise an additional $250,000 over the next 5 years.

Our team

The Skinny Pig Fund was founded by Keith’s family towards the end of his cancer journey. It was created to help be sure that other families do not have to go through the suffering and pain that we did. Throughout the progression of the fund it has not only been a way to fight cancer, but it has become a way to keep Keith’s memory alive. 

Daniel Foley, Keith’s younger brother, has been the main driver of the fund. Dan has been an avid fundraiser for many different charities. He ran over 40 marathons raising over $300k. Keith was there supporting him every step of the way. Since his brothers death, Dan has continued to run marathons and raise money, the big difference is he is now doing it for Keith rather than with his support. Dan has turned the tragedy of losing his brother into something that could save countless other lives. Dan’s devotion to the fund shows how we can channel our pain into something to help countless others. 

DECA is a business club at many different high schools. Paige Foley, Keith’s niece and Dan’s daughter, joined this club to get more involved with Team Skinny Pig. However this big project could not be done alone, Paige is working with her friends Lile Twohig-Mann and Lilianna McClintock. Together the 3 set out to raise awareness for the team by doing things such as creating this website and putting on a 5k fundraising event. Although she is not a member of this club, we would like to thank Abigail Spiecker for helping us design this website.