Participants on the 2013 3-Day in Boston, Cleveland and Chicago made this year’s 3-Day journey with mixed emotions, knowing the event would not be returning to their city in 2014. Our 3-Day coaches and event staff felt the same mix of joy and melancholy as they walked or supported our last events in these three remarkable cities. They share their love, gratitude and messages for the 3-Day participant community below.
Category Archives: Inspiration
Coincidence or Destiny?
Christa C. stops on the route on Day 3 of the Chicago 3-Day
Here on the Susan G. Komen 3-Day®, I learned very quickly that I needed to be ready with a camera sometime between 6 and 7 o’clock for a very special event: The Last Walker. While normally the hero of an event like this is the first walker, Dr. Sheri reminds us at The Opening Ceremony that “this is a walk, not a race.” In that spirit, the last walker is celebrated like a returning warrior, encouraged by the entire camp rising to its feet, cheering, clapping.
Last night’s grand entrance of Christa C. from Chicago brought the participants streaming to the flagpole to the point that it was difficult to find my usual position for a photograph. Christa, a 7-month survivor of breast cancer herself, was accompanied by motorcycle-riding Route Safety Crew Member Karen R., also from Chicago. Why the escort? “I saw Christa at about Mile 15 today,” Karen almost yelled in my ear over the chanting crowd. “I noticed her shirt, which looked too familiar. Then I noticed her shoes. I asked her, ‘Where did you get those?’ She responded that she bought them from another unknown breast cancer survivor at an estate sale in Chicago. They were mine!” Christa, in her jungle safari hat with pink streamers agreed. “When I bought them from the estate sale, I wanted to wear them in honor of this unknown breast cancer survivor. I had no idea she’d be protecting me on the route!”
Route Safety Crew member Karen R. from Chicago embraces Christa C. who bears the flag of the Chicago 3-Day at the end of Day 2
Call it what you want. Coincidence. Luck. Fate. Destiny. For Christa and Karen in Chicago, two strangers have again been brought together by a common cause, a touching and recurring theme on the Komen 3-Day Series.
Donna Lawson: Compassion, Community, Commitment
Donna Lawson was recognized on the Susan G. Komen Chicago 3-Day with the Milestone Award for her efforts in the fight to end breast cancer
When asked what was the secret to her fundraising success, this year’s Susan G. Komen Chicago 3-Day Milestone Award winner Donna Lawson simply replied: “I am blessed with thoughtful and generous people in my life who have continued to support me year after year . . . Some start asking if I am [participating in the 3-Day] again at the beginning of the year so they can plan for a donation later. I send letters through the old-fashioned US Postal Service with a self-addressed envelope and a donation form. My letter provides an update on the last walk, a ‘thank you’ to those who have donated previously, facts about breast cancer, and Susan G. Komen® efforts. I always send a hand-written thank you note to each person who donated, no matter what the amount.”
Donna’s humble and personal approach reflects her personality and is likely a driving factor in both her motivation for fighting breast cancer and her substantial fundraising ability. Her efforts, along with her children and teams, have topped $100,000 over 12 Komen 3-Day events! “I am a breast cancer survivor, and I knew a few people who had done the walk previously,” recounts Donna. “After the first 3-Day our family was addicted to the feelings during our first experience and wanted to continue that as long as we could.”
Donna Lawson waits backstage in preparation for the Opening Ceremony at the Chicago 3-Day
Seasoned as she is in the 3-Day® and in fundraising, Donna encourages new walkers to “absorb and enjoy” the feeling of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, to meet people and hear their stories and of course, to keep dry socks in plastic bags. She reiterates, “If you are not moved by the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, I would be shocked!” What does the Chicago 3-Day mean to Donna Lawson? “Compassion. Community. Commitment.”
Congratulations to the 2013 Chicago 3-Day Milestone Award winner Donna Lawson!