One of the things that makes the Susan G. Komen 3-Day so special, is the people who make up this beautiful community. This event compels people to show up for loved ones and strangers alike. It pulls together people who are looking to make a difference in the world. Time and time again, we’ve seen the ways in which this extends beyond the 3-Day itself.

Longtime walker Sylvia Campbell and her teammates from Team 211 2Steps 1Goal 1Lifetime started an initiative called Kindness Matters. They collect donations of food, blankets, books, gift cards, etc. and then load up wagons and distribute the items amongst the homeless population in the Tampa area. They have forged relationships with many of their recipients and document their interactions on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/FEEDINGTHEINVISIBLE. It’s a beautiful project that highlights the best in people and the humanity in us all.

Here is the story of Kindness Matters, in their own words:

KINDNESS MATTERS is a way of giving back to others. Seeing the invisible, we also see ourselves more clearly, and are made more complete.

211 began as a walking team to raise awareness for breast cancer, and funds for breast cancer research. The majority of our members have walked this journey of breast cancer, or traveled it with one they love.

As we walked miles, training, we could not ignore those who lay sleeping beneath the bridges, trying to stay cool in the summer months. or warm as the winter came. The invisible, the unseen…yet people like each of us.

This was brought home as we were given the gift of knowing someone who was part of this homeless world, yet who was able to receive care, and caring because of the compassion of members of this team.

When we went to the Philadelphia 3-Day, walking in the cold miserable rain, we were struck by the faces of the homeless we saw there. And so we tried to share coffee, and food, as we walked our miles. And the gratitude they shared was something we will always hold close in our hearts.

From this we began the Kindness Matters walks. Each month we gather, make sandwiches, pack bags with food, socks, scarfs, blankets, water and other items and leave them with all we see on our walks. And so it pays forward…for Kindness Does Matter.

Kindness Matters is a way for those who have walked the walk of breast cancer to give back to others…and it has grown beyond that. See what Komen has inspired?

Speaking of being inspired…we are truly inspired by what Sylvia and her team have accomplished and the many ways in which they’re taking the lessons they’ve learned on the 3-Day and bringing them back into their community.

Thank you Sylvia, and Team 211 2Steps 1Goal 1Lifetime, for making this world a better place!

Sylvia has raised more than $41,000 for the 3-Day, walking every year since 2006, and her teams have raised more than $340,000! They will join us in Dallas/Fort Worth in 2021.