A crowd of 6,200 people from all over the borough took large strides on a picture-perfect autumn Sunday, in the 15th annual American Cancer Society (ACS) “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk.”
Registration began at 9 a.m. at Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens on Sunday, October 19. Two hours later, Borough President Helen Marshall cut the ribbon to start the event and the walkers were off.
“We know that finding this disease early is key to treating it - it can make the difference between life and death. That’s why it’s so important to get an annual mammogram,” Marshall said.
In the New York area alone, of 400,000 women aged 40 and up, only 61.1 percent reported having a mammogram last year.
Making Strides will provide another boost in awareness and support to the research, which is needed in order to find the cure and sustain patient and family programs throughout the community.
The hope is that not only people will become aware but that the government will listen and provide more grant money so that women of all different backgrounds will be given a chance for the lifesaving technology of a mammogram.
In that spirit, the theme of this year’s walk was, “All hope begins with me.”
Last year an estimated 6,500 people took to the streets of Queens in order to raise awareness of the severity and the struggle for early detection of breast cancer.
Although the crowd was no larger, the more-than-700 teams of walkers managed to raise $650,000 for the cause, according to the event’s director Leslie Orlovsky.
“There were a lot more cancer survivors walking this year,” Orlovsky said, adding, “Seeing all those ladies in their pink shirts was inspiring.”
The ACS has been has been the leader in the tenacious fight against breast cancer and since 1972 it has invested more than $352 million in breast cancer research grants. Making Strides has raised more than $280 million since 1993 through this event, which relies on the efforts of dedicated survivors and their families.
“There were a lot more men walking this year, in support of - and sadly, sometimes in memory of - a spouse or loved one,” Orlovsky said. “We could never attain our goals without the generous support of people who care,” she remarked.
“It was a tremendous amount of work to make this event happen,” Orlovsky admitted, but said, “Seeing it come together is so gratifying, we’re about ready to get started on next year.”
For more information, contact Anne Shaknis at 212-237-3884 or visit www.cancer.org/stridesonline.
