Every three minutes, another woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer? This statistic did not resonate with me until I started counting and discovered that I personally know 7 women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Seven. That is a pretty big number for an illness this serious. Of those seven women, 4 were younger than 40 (or just around 40) when they were first diagnosed. Of the seven, 2 have passed away, one of them my beloved sister-in-law, Michelle. The oldest of them is my own aunt Noemi, who was diagnosed about two years ago, and thanks to diligent care, is doing quite well and, in between treatments, is enjoying time with her grandchildren traveling around Venezuela whenever she can. The most recently diagnosed person is a dear friend of mine whose 2 young daughters I have watched grow up along with my boys and who is presently fighting this battle keeping a brave, positive attitude, so that she can be there for her daughters.
I ask each and everyone of you to stop for a few minutes whatever you are doing and count, and I am sure you will be as surprised as I was to learn just how many people you know on a first-name basis have been diagnosed with this terrible disease. Neither youth, nor health status, nor gender will guarantee that you will never be affected by this terrible disease.
It is for them, as well as for all the other women - and men - who have been touched by breast cancer that on April 30 - May 1, I'll spend the weekend walking, along with thousands of other people, in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. I will walk the distance of a marathon and a half (that's a grand total of 39.3 miles) with the sole purpose of raising funds and awareness to help fight breast cancer. I am not a scientist, so I cannot help on that front, but there are many researchers out there who have dedicated their life's work to finding a cure for breast cancer, and they can always use more funding to help further their research. On that front, I CAN and I WILL help the only way I know how: by huffing it for two days so that I, along with your support, can raise a bit of money to send their way so that hopefully one day my friends won't have to fret over their daughters' fate, and so that one day I won't have to worry about my sons losing a mother or a wife to this disease.
The money raised goes to the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade, a 501(c)(3) public charity whose mission is to provide access to care and to work toward finding a cure. They provide funding to organizations all over the country in five areas: medical research, clinical care, support services, educational and advocacy seminars, and community-based, non-profit early detection breast health programs. Much of the money raised will stay right here to help people in our community.
I'm required to raise at least $1,800 to participate, but I'm setting my goal even higher, and I plan to raise at least ($2500). Please help to support me and the breast cancer cause by making a generous contribution to my efforts. You can make your donation online by simply visiting the link at the bottom of this message, which will bring you right to my personal page. Please remember as you're making your donation that in less than the time it took to read this posting, another woman in the U.S. was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Thank you for your support.
P.S. You can find out more about the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer by visiting www.avonwalk.org (http://www.avonwalk.org/)
Please visit my personal page at: http://bit.ly/bVe7GB
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