Small Strokes Big Oaks

This past weekend, despite a 104 degree heat index and running out of water at various rest stops, my mom and I walked 26.2 miles around Chicago and raised over $1800 each to fight breast cancer.  (We didn’t make it the whole 39.3 miles this year.  We usually do, but due to the heat and lack of water on the first day of the walk, it was impossible to go any further!)

I do this walk with my mom every year because every time I turn around, someone else we know has been diagnosed with this terrible disease.  I also continue to do this particular walk rather than many of the other breast cancer walks and runs out there because I believe in the Avon Foundation and their commitment to both ending breast cancer and putting money back into the communities where the walks take place.  This weekend, the Chicago walkers raised over $6.1 million, and at the closing ceremony, we witnessed just a few grants the Avon Foundation was able to make to hospitals in the area so they can continue to provide services to low-income women in the area free of charge.  They also presented grants to several research organizations that are currently researching why breast cancer mortality rates are so much higher among Black and Latina women and men.  I believe in this cause, and I believe focusing on what can be done locally to help women and men in the community and helping researchers find out why there is such a disparity in mortality rates for this disease is incredibly important.  And that’s why I walk every year, and will continue to walk every year until I can’t walk anymore.

I also love that the Avon Foundation has taken their initiative to many other countries.  This year, in 2011, the Avon Foundation will hold over 39 events around the globe in countries from Guatemala to Croatia, Australia to El Salvador, helping communities fight breast cancer and raising awareness.  By raising awareness around the world, the Avon Foundation is helping more people detect their cancer early, receive comprehensive treatment, and survive breast cancer.  From the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade website:

While we remain steadfast in our commitment to find a cure, we are proud to have supported tremendous progress over the last 18 years in research and care:

• Educated 105,000,000 women worldwide on breast health through community-based and grassroots outreach since 1992
• Linked 15,000,000 women worldwide to early detection programs and mammography screening
• Provided $175-million to breast cancer research projects since 1999, including most recently more than $25 million for 41 research projects focused on primary prevention, understanding the etiology and potential causes of breast cancer and developing a blood or saliva test for early detection
• Forged new collaborations among nonprofit groups, government and industry by the Avon Foundation hosting the first-ever Collaborative Summit on Breast Cancer
• Love/Avon Army of Women accelerates the pace of breast cancer prevention research by enlisting women – healthy women who have never had breast cancer and survivors – in this effort.  Through 2010 the Army of Women has recruited 340,000 women, launched 35 research studies, and had more than 43,000 Army of Women members respond to requests for volunteers.  Most studies utilizing the Army of Women resource are able to identify enough eligible volunteers within 48 hours to one week to fulfill their volunteer requirements and move the study forward.

With breast cancer affecting another life every three minutes in the United States and more around the world, this campaign is so important, and I’m proud to be able to do these walks with my mom every year.

This year, we walked in terrible heat.  Last year, it was a tornado warning.  The year before, it was nice and sunny.  Chicago has unpredictable weather, to be sure, but breast cancer is also unpredictable.  While we may not always be able to walk the full 39.3 miles, we will always do what we can to end breast cancer for everyone, both locally and around the world.

For more information on the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, click here.  For more information on the Avon Walk Around the World, click here and here.

All pictures were taken by myself at the 2011 Chicago Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

This post is cross-posted at Gender Across Borders.

For more pictures from the walk, click below!