If you’ve never personally known anyone touched by breast cancer you are very fortunate. A staggering 1 in 8 women in the US will develop breast cancer. Now think of your friends and family. Which one will be affected? Your best friend? Your wife? Your daughter? Maybe even you. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death for women right now, and the leading cause of death in women between the ages of 40 and 55. Every woman is at risk, because we don’t know how to prevent it. 3 million people are living with breast cancer, and one-third of them don’t yet know it. A new case of breast cancer is diagnosed every 2 minutes – that means more than 262,000 women and 2,100 men will be diagnosed. Breast cancer kills about 40,000 people a year - one every 14 minutes.
Needless to say, I’ll be walking again in the New York Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. And I hope you’ll be supporting me again. This will be my 19th walk.
On October 14-15, I'll be walking with thousands of people. We’ll walk 39.3 miles over 2 days. We’ll sleep in tents, shower in semi trucks, and use more portosans than we’d care to contemplate. Why do I do this year after year? Because when I first started participating in these events, I only knew a few people that had been touched by breast cancer. Now I know more than I can count. I refuse to sit idly by and watch it happen. Why do I do this? Because I can!
The money raised goes to the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade, a 501(c)(3) public charity whose mission is to fund access to finding a cure for breast cancer. The focus is on medically underserved women, the under privileged, the elderly, and the under- or un-insured. Funds are awarded to 1) medical research 2) access to treatment; 3) screening and diagnosis; 4) support services; and 5) education and awareness. In other words, this money goes toward the whole picture – cause, cure, care, support, and education.
This year, I’m hoping to raise $10,000 – and this means that I will have raised over $238,000 since I started walking with the awesome support of people just like you. So please help to support the breast cancer cause (and me) by making a fully tax deductible contribution. Just click on the donate button on this page. If you want to donate by check, please make your check payable to “AVON 39 THE WALK TO END BREAST CANCER,” and send your check back to me (I’ll fill out the necessary forms).
Please remember as you're making your donation that, in less than the time it took to read this letter, another woman in the U.S. was diagnosed with breast cancer. We have to make sure breast cancer funding isn’t a victim of today’s tough times. Make sure to let me know if you know someone who has lost the battle with this disease or has survived it. Last year, I walked in memory and celebration of 293 wonderful people.
Just one more favor - after you get done reading this (and making your donation), pick up the phone and call four women that are close to you. Ask them if they have been doing their monthly exams and if they have had their mammogram. This simple question has the potential to save their lives. Your question may prompt a loved one to check and find out early enough to save her life – and isn’t that what this is all about?
