By Christina Santucci
Thousands of walkers wearing pink will replace the usual congestion on Queens Boulevard next Sunday as they march 5 kilometers for the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.
Last year, the annual fund−raising event drew about 8,000 people and raised about $675,000. Organizers are hoping that 10,000 will trek from Queens Borough Hall along Queens Boulevard to 63rd Drive and back this year. As of Tuesday, donors had pledged more than $140,000.
Nationwide, nearly 500,000 walkers raised more than $50 million in 2007, according to the ACS, and since the event’s inception 15 years ago, the organization has raised nearly $280 million for cancer research.
Breast cancer survivors who participate in the walk are given “Survivor” shirts to wear and also have the opportunity to learn more about the ACS’s Reach to Recovery program, which pairs survivors who have completed their treatment at least one year earlier with those who are recently diagnosed.
The ACS estimates breast cancer will kill one−fifth of the 200,000 people diagnosed in the United States in 2008, and the disease is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women, said ACS Director of Special Events Leslie Orlovsky.
