Congratulations to the 2019 Philadelphia 3-Day Local Impact Award Winner, Nancy Moskoff

For the 2019 Susan G. Komen 3-Day® season, we’re pleased to be continuing the Local Impact Award. This award is being given to participants who have been instrumental in strengthening the 3-Day® community throughout the year. Local Impact Award honorees have gone above and beyond in their efforts leading training walks, attending 3-Day community events, supporting the 3-Day staff year-round at meet-ups and workshops, and in general, making a difference by building lasting relationships and showing commitment to the 3-Day in all they do.

Please join us in congratulating the 2019 Philadelphia 3-Day Local Impact Award Winner, Nancy Moskoff!

Nancy is a 19-time 3-Dayer with “the ability to make everyone she talks with feel special and important,” according to her friend Terri Vallinote. Terri says that Nancy “just sparkles,” and Coach Carol agrees!

“Nancy is always right where she needs to be and always thinking of others. One year I walked, Nancy showed up at Opening Ceremony with breakfast sandwiches that she had made at home, of which I was one of the lucky recipients!

Nancy doesn’t just participate in the 3-Day, she is also an advocate for the Philadelphia Susan G. Komen Affiliate, as well as other breast cancer organizations including Living Beyond Breast Cancer. As a coach raising awareness for our event, I had the privilege to see Nancy at both the More Than Pink Walk as well as other events I attended. At the More Than Pink Walk she was a shining star on a rainy day and always had a smile on her face. When it was time to leave the event and we were all drenched, another one of our coaches and I spotted Nancy leaving with a box full of flowers. As we said our good-byes out the window of the car, she came right over and shared the flowers with us. Nancy is always shining!”

Now, let’s hear from Nancy herself! When she answered these questions, she didn’t yet know she’d be honored with this award 🙂

What was your inspiration to do your first 3-Day???

One of my former coworkers drove home past 3-Day camp at Belmont plateau in 2007 when I was on chemo (the first time) and said I need to drive by and see it. I said okay and drove by and pulled over I was mesmerized by the sea of pink tents. I decided then and there that the next year I would be in one … and Nancy’s fight for the girls was born! We were in those tents the very next year!

What has brought you back to the 3-Day year after year?

I’m a 2-time survivor … I know that I need to do whatever I can for this cause. I love the pink bubble. It’s where I feel most at home surrounded by likeminded people who all have the same goal and happen to be some of my favorite people on earth!

What is the secret to your 3-Day fundraising success?

We do whatever we can do to make the most money in the least amount of time! We might be last minute because we are crazy busy, but we get it done!

What is your best advice to anyone participating in the 3-Day?

Enjoy every minute! It’s the best time you will ever have making so much of a difference! These people are like no others and they will do anything for you. I have made so many amazing friends here and wouldn’t trade them for anything.

What’s a fun fact about you?

I have always been crafty … hence the homemade 3-Day mail with glittered embellishment… sparkles… feathers…. all in my wheelhouse!

What are the most important lessons you’ve learned on the 3-Day?

I’ve learned that I’m stronger than I thought I could ever be! Just keep on keeping on and do what you need to do! There are some amazing people along the journey … find your tribe! These pink people are my tribe ?

Congratulations to the 2019 Philadelphia 3-Day Milestone Award Winner, Riley Weston

Riley (at left)

Please join us in congratulating our 2019 Philadelphia Milestone Award Winner; Riley Weston. The Susan G. Komen 3-Day® Milestone Award is given at each event to a walker or crew member who has an outstanding history of participation in the Komen 3-Day. At the Philadelphia 3-Day camp show, we presented Riley with this special honor.

Riley has participated in the 3-Day for nine years and raised more than $180,000 in that time! Coach Carol, who has known Riley as a fellow walker and a coach, says she is “the most talented, humble person you would every have that chance to meet.”

That love is echoed by her friend, Lyndell, who says,

“I met the amazing Riley Weston seven years ago when I joined team Faith Girlz to walk for such a worthy cause. I was feeling down about the passing of my best friend. While my BFF didn’t have breast cancer (brain cancer), cancer had hit my family and started touching people who I cared deeply about.

Over the last few years, Riley and I have formed a friendship that has helped me grow as a person and an advocate in many ways. Her passion for finding a cure is contagious! Her efforts to continually raise a great amount of money shows her commitment to the cause and this organization. I am thrilled that Riley is receiving this year’s Milestone Award! I am proud to be a Faith Girl and honored to be able to call her my sistah and my friend. :)”

What was your inspiration to do your first 3-Day???

I had lost my grandmother. My aunt (her daughter) was in remission. My sister asked me to do the walk with her in 2010 when her friend backed out at the last minute.

What has brought you back to the 3-Day year after year?

Since then, I have lost my sister to triple negative breast cancer. One of the promises I made to her was that I would not stop walking, raising money and awareness until this disease was something we spoke about in past tense. My cousin is also now in remission like my aunt!

What is the secret to your 3-Day fundraising success?

Take no prisoners! Seriously though, I do not have matching funds, so I really just talk to people about breast cancer and what it has done to me and my family. I also ask them if they’ve even heard of triple negative, which most of them have not. I explain the research that Susan G. Komen does and how they reach so many people. Personally, I tell them when I lost my own health insurance, it was Komen who made sure I was still getting mammograms.

What is your best advice to anyone participating in the 3-Day?

My sister used to say this a lot and I still do for her: SUCK IT UP, CUPCAKE! And HAVE FUN!

What’s a fun fact about you?

I’m a believer in the impossible, I’m obsessed with my chocolate lab, Joe Bob, and never say no to a good apple pie moonshine, honey whiskey or cookie dough. Not necessarily in that order 😉

What are the most important lessons you’ve learned on the 3-Day?

That life is way too short, that these women I’ve met are my friends for life and that we CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

3-Day Philadelphia Route Preview

We can’t believe it’s already October! That means it’s time to head to the East Coast for our Philly 3-Day. It’s going to be an amazing three days of walking, having fun, and making memories. Our 3-Day team can’t wait to host our walkers, crew, volunteers and supporters for a wonderful weekend together! But, before you pack your bags, Event Manager Melanie Toner is giving us a sneak peak of what to expect.

“We’re thrilled to bring back much of the route that people loved last year,” Melanie enthuses. “We’ve tried hard to continue to highlight new areas of the city, so you can see different parts of Philadelphia each day. If you loved last year’s route, you will be happy again this year.”

We will once again begin our journey with our Opening Ceremony at our hotel camp, the Hilton Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing. We are so excited to be back at the location that was so lovely to our 3-Dayers last year.

Plus, as Melanie reminded us, “The hotel is right on the water, so it’s really beautiful!”

After the Opening Ceremony, walkers will head west across the city through historic areas of Philadelphia to University City. We will go through Rittenhouse Square early in the day, which Melanie promises is gorgeous!

Other highlights are the “Please Touch” Museum and an amazing cheering station at Smith Memorial Playground. The afternoon will also include a walk along the picturesque Concourse Lake Trail, which also has its own cheering station.

At the end of the day, walkers will return to our 3-Day hotel camp at the Hilton Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing. Camp is indoors again this year, and the extra comfort that provides will be the perfect end to both Friday and Saturday’s walks. Melanie is also glad for the comfort of the hotel, given that Philadelphia’s weather can be a little unpredictable in the fall.

“We are putting out good vibes to Mother Nature for continued good weather! But, just in case, we are glad to be able to offer a comfy hotel bed to keep you warm, dry and well rested again in 2019.”

There will be lots of similar sights to those in years past on Day Two, including a stop at the Liberty Bell within the first mile of the day. There will also be tons of community support out on the route, including a cheering station at the Gillin Boathouse.

We will also be stopping right in front of the Philly Museum of Art. That means you can celebrate Saturday with a photo op at the Rocky statue! The Philadelphia Zoo is also once again supporting 3-Dayers on Day Two. You can also expect some surprises throughout the weekend to make this weekend extra fun!

And then Sunday will be here before you know it! There will be some changes to the Day Three route due to our new closing site on Shoemaker Green at the University of Pennsylvania. Melanie can’t wait to make the most of this new ending location.

“I love it because it’s such an intimate and beautiful site where we can all gather together. The space will make it feel like more of a celebration as we wrap up the event as one community. Plus, it’s at the University of Pennsylvania, and two of the grantees who have benefited from the 3-Day’s fundraising dollars are right in that area as well. The University of Pennsylvania and the Wistar Institute are both Komen grantees, so we are honored to be able to celebrate right next door to those amazing institutions.”

But even with the changes, we will still have all the highlights you know and love, including views of Independence Hall and a cheering station along Broad Street that will put a big Day Three smile on the faces of our walkers. There will also be cheesesteaks at Pat & Geno’s, a walk along the Italian Market and more.

Melanie says, “You will still have all your Philly favorites, just in a different order. We really tried to keep all the elements that our walkers have come to expect and love to see!”

After Pat & Geno’s we will head back north towards the University of Pennsylvania for our Finish Line Festival and Closing Ceremony, where we will be celebrating three glorious days, and 60 difference-making miles under the Philadelphia sun!

Melanie encourages our Philadelphia 3-Dayers to soak in every moment of the weekend ahead and can’t wait to welcome you all to the City of Brotherly Love.

“I want everyone to feel proud of what we have done here. I was the first Philadelphia staff member hired back in 2004, and it has been so amazing to see this walk come full circle this year. I feel so much pride and I want all our participants to feel that way, too. We have given people hope and inspiration at a time in their lives that could have been very dark. We have worked so hard and we have so much to be proud of. We can not thank the people and city of Philadelphia enough.”