How Handstand Walk Began
FROM ONE COMMUNITY TO A NATIONAL MOVEMENT Handstand Walk began with a simple idea: bringing people together to support children fighting cancer. What started as a small fundraising effort quickly grew into a movement powered by young athletes determined to make a difference.
Where It All Began
In 2020, just before her second birthday, Caryn’s daughter, Eloise, was diagnosed with cancer. After undergoing multiple surgeries, chemotherapy, and long hospital stays, she was declared cancer-free later that year thanks to the care she received at Memorial Sloan Kettering Kids (MSK Kids).
That year, the annual MSK Kids Walk went virtual due to the pandemic. Rather than participating separately, Caryn rallied friends and family to walk together through Red Hook, Brooklyn. With the help of local police, streets were closed for the walk, and the group later gathered at Brooklyn Crab for a thank-you celebration.
What began as a way to support Eloise and give back to the hospital that saved her life soon inspired an entirely new fundraising idea.
A Movement Built on Support and Love
When Caryn's former gymnastics coach at Infiniti Elite, Tammy Marshall, asked how her athletes could get involved and show support, they decided to take the traditional MSK Kids Walk and turn it upside down.
Three Infiniti Elite gymnasts, Abigail Smith, Skylar Goodstadt, and Ashley Richard, brought the idea to life with the first Handstand Walk with Eloise. What began as a team event supporting a fellow gymnastics family's daughter became an opportunity for athletes to use their sport to make a difference. Together, the team raised an incredible $31,000 for pediatric cancer research, demonstrating the impact young athletes could have when they came together for a cause.
The Birth of Handstand Walk For Kids
The pivotal moment that transformed a team fundraising event into something much larger came when Galena Tanjeloff brought the concept to Gotham Gymnastics in 2021. With a vision to unite the gymnastics community and a deeply personal connection to the mission, Galena and Caryn officially launched Handstand Walk For Kids, expanding its purpose beyond one athlete, one family, or one gym.
Galena's leadership at Gotham helped demonstrate the true fundraising potential of the movement. Beyond expanding participation, she championed fundraising efforts, mobilized athletes and their communities, and helped drive the organization's growth toward a major milestone: $1 million raised for pediatric cancer research.
What began as a single team event had grown into a nationwide movement, bringing together gymnasts, coaches, families, and communities united by a shared mission to fight childhood cancer.