Getting Down to the Business of Fighting Back – Carla’s Story

Carla Kelley, who will be walking the 3-Day for the fifth time in San Diego this November, shared her inspiring story with us. #WeAreThe3Day

“In January 2006, at the age of 34, I felt I finally had it all. I had a wonderful man, a career that I loved and I was pregnant for the first time. In my book, things couldn’t have been better. Then on February 14, 2006, at my first pre-natal visit, a lump was found in my breast. I was scheduled right away for an ultrasound and biopsy. I thought, “It can’t be breast cancer, I’m pregnant!”

“But breast cancer doesn’t care who you are. It doesn’t care if you’re young or old, rich or poor. It doesn’t care about the color of your skin or even if you’re a male or female. And it certainly doesn’t care if you’re pregnant.

“When the doctor told me that I did have breast cancer, my perfect little world came crashing down all around me and I was in complete shock. But I bounced back quickly and started getting down to the business of fighting back. I was assigned my own small army of specialists in oncology and obstetrics and we began researching treatment options. The fact that I was pregnant was going to be a challenge, as was determining what treatments I could or could not receive. Within two weeks we were able to find the answers we were looking for and on April 3, 2006, when I was well into my second trimester, I had surgery to remove the tumor.

“My surgery went well and the baby was doing great. As soon I healed from surgery I began a chemotherapy treatment that my doctors and I determined would not harm my baby. My obstetrician monitored the baby weekly during and after my treatment and she came through everything beautifully. The chemotherapy however took a toll on me and my body. I went into labor early and Hannah was born on August 9, 2006 at 35 weeks. She weighed in at 4 pounds and 13 ounces, but thankfully there were no complications whatsoever! Carla Kelley

“After giving birth I had one more surgery to make sure my margins were clear, then finished my chemotherapy. Six weeks of radiation soon followed and finally all of my treatments were at an end. I was both relieved and scared at the same time. No more poking, no more prodding, and no more being zapped…but wait, if I’m not being treated, will the cancer come back?

“To help fight back against cancer, I started participating in the EIF Revlon Run/Walk for Women. I loved it so much and found so much support through participating that I began running the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure at Dodger Stadium, and started walking in the Komen 3-Day in San Diego. walk3

“It was at the 3-Day where I met the most amazing group of women and their families, and ultimately joined their team, Saving 2nd Base. Their friendship, love and support have been an incredible source of strength for me, more than they will ever know. I’ll be forever thankful for having met them: Shari, Karin, Barbara, Laurie, Carrie, Jill, Amber, Mark, Ashley. And all of the men behind these women: Bill, Rick, Norbert, Wayne and all of their children. Thank you and I love you all!

“I am now 10 years cancer-free. I’ve long since completed all of my treatments and have graduated to having blood tests only once a year now along with yearly mammograms. I will forever be so grateful to all of my friends, family, doctors and nurses for the wonderful care and support they provided for me and my baby.” walk1

Sandy and the “Ribbon Effect”

Last year on the Susan G. Komen 3-Day®, we began a new tradition of sharing Promise Ribbons, a colorful, simple yet touching way for walkers and crew members to share their hopes and promises with each other and their supporters. But for Sandy Kazinski, a 12-time 3-Day walker from New York, sharing ribbons has been a tradition that has spanned many miles for years before Promise Ribbons came on the scene. 2015_3DAY_TCSat_EDB (41)

Easily recognizable on the 3-Day in her ribbon-covered hat, Sandy has personally made and shared thousands of pink ribbon pins with other walkers.

I had the chance to meet Sandy at the Twin Cities 3-Day last August and find out the story behind her ribbon fixation. “I was always sending little thank you notes to donors and I wanted to send something fun and something personal with them.” She would find little breast cancer items to send—pads of sticky notes and other knick-knacks—all marked in some way with pink ribbons, but she started to feel like those weren’t personal enough. She decided to start including an actual pink ribbon with a pin, and the idea quickly snowballed. Not content to use just solid pink either, Sandy began seeking out fun patterns. “I got online and I was finding this website and that ribbon site and this gift shop and I just got a little…crazy obsessive?” Sandy said with a laugh. sandy's ribbons 2

Spools of ribbons. Dozens of designs. Piles of safety pins. It became Sandy’s nightly routine to sit and watch the 11 o’clock news, cutting and pinning ribbons the whole time. Every night. She would pin during commutes. She would pin on winter days in New York with the snow falling outside her window. Before long, the ribbons vastly outstripped the number of donors she had to send them to. So her ribbon-sharing expanded.

Sandy started handing out ribbons on training walks she hosted. She participates in other breast cancer events, including the NYC Race for the Cure® and hands out ribbons there. And she began mailing ribbons—bagfuls at a time—to 3-Day walkers in other cities. It started with people she knew or had met on her many 3-Days throughout the country, but soon the ribbon mailings spread to include strangers too. “I go onto the message boards,” Sandy shared. “If I see somebody’s story, or see that somebody has been helpful to somebody else (volunteering to be a tentmate, or offering someone a ride from the airport), I’ll send them ribbons.” There are 3-Day walkers whom Sandy has never met, in every 3-Day location, who have been surprised by a baggie of pink ribbons in their camp mail. “I just pick and send. Because honestly, what am I going to do with all those ribbons?” sandy's ribbons

Exactly what kind of numbers are we talking about here? I asked Sandy how much ribbon she starts with at the beginning of a new 3-Day year. “Gosh, I don’t know. Too much! My coffee table is still filled with it. I buy safety pins from Amazon. Normally it is just one box of 10 gross (1,440 pins). This year, I did 2 boxes, 2,880 pins, and I used them all. It’s a little crazy, a little obsessive.” All told, there are probably close to 10,000 “Sandy ribbons” out there, pinned to various bulletin boards, shirts, lanyards, hats and packs around the nation.

Sandy admits that she doesn’t really remember WHY she got so caught up in this pink ribbon frenzy. She doesn’t have a family history of breast cancer, but her decade-and-a-half involvement with the 3-Day and other breast cancer events has led to friendships and personal connections in every corner of the U.S. And she doesn’t show any signs of stopping her pinning mania. What started as a cute way to say thank you to donors has turned into something much bigger.

“I give ribbons out constantly because they start and continue the very important dialogue—self-exam, who am I walking for, how I got involved, what Komen does with funds raised, how you take care of your breast health. I will keep pinning! I have a few dozen yards of new ribbon patterns. I wear a new ‘Sandy Hat’ each year, made up of the current year’s ribbon patterns which are being doled out around the country.” And remember that in the midst of all of the pinning, Sandy is also diligently training and fundraising for the 3-Day (this year, she’ll be walking in San Diego, her 13^th 3-Day). Across the many cancer events she has participated in since 1999, she has personally raised over $110,000. 2015_3DAY_TCSat_EDB (43)

It has a ripple effect, a pay-it-forward kind of influence where it doesn’t stop with just one person. It starts with Sandy, but these ribbons have made it to walkers, cancer patients and survivors, and hundreds of friends whom she has never met. Sandy says, “It’s the gift that keeps giving!”

What advice does Sandy have for someone who is thinking about doing the 3-Day? “Attend a Get Started call or meeting and raise your hand and ask a question. Walk a training walk. Push yourself—whether it’s physically or from the fundraising perspective. You will never know your potential until you try. You will surprise yourself every step of the way, pun intended. Know that you never ever walk alone. I used to say that I would want someone like me fighting like hell if the tables were turned. I don’t have to be out there doing this, but I will continue to fight this fight. And I’d want someone doing the same for me.”

Fundraising Challenge Throwback!

Today, we’re giving you the mother of all #TBT fundraising posts. We’ve scoured our archives for Fundraising Challenges that we’ve posted over the last year or so, and we’ve got some of the best of them here. You can also find Fundraising Challenges going all the way back to 2014 here. 3DAY_2016_Social_Text_FundraisingChallenge_1

Remember Your Reasons – Use your fundraising requests as an opportunity to remind your donors exactly why we raise funds for Susan G. Komen®. Ask for a specific and meaningful amount (for example, you could ask for donations of $50, which could be used to help transport a patient to a treatment session or mammogram). Or simply share your story and remind people why you walk, and tell them that you’ll walk in honor or in memory of someone they love who’s been affected by breast cancer. For every donation you receive, tell them you’ll carry that person’s name with you, in tribute.

Let the Calendar Lead the Way – Your next fundraising idea could be as close as the calendar on your wall. Find inspiration from the date (if it’s 5/19, see if you can get 5 donations of $19), the year (can you reach your 2016 fundraising goal with donations of $20.16?) or even just the day of the week (make every Wednesday a “get me over the hump” day by asking donors to help you reach the next hundred-dollar level of your fundraising). Be creative about using unique days to grab your donors’ interest. For example, on 7/17 of last year, we issued this fundraising challenge:

Yay, America! – On Patriotic Holidays (Memorial Day, Flag Day, July 4^th, Election Day, etc.), ask your friends to make donations today in honor of their patriotic pride. How about $50, one dollar for every amazing American state?

Countdown! – A countdown is a great fundraising gimmick. You can ask for donations in the amount of how many days are left until you walk (you can find how many days you have left on the Home page of your Participant Center), or count down to some other important date, such as a birthday or a cancer-versary.

Anytime Ideas! – Some ideas are great no matter what time of year it is. Here’s one: set a timer for 30 minutes and see if you can get $100 in donations! Post the challenge on Facebook, blast an email out to everyone in your workplace, heck, you can even dig the change out of your car seats and couch cushions. Race against the clock and get to the goal! Or you can find more ideas or inspiration at any time of day or night by visiting the Fundraising Tools page of your Participant Center at The3Day.org/Fundraising or search for fundraising posts on the 3-Day blog.

Social Media Strategies – Most fundraising strategies can incorporate social media in some form, but sometimes you can use social media as the starting point. Start a tagging trend: tag three friends in a Facebook or Twitter post, and ask them each to donate $10 AND tag three of their own friends. Be sure to share your reasons for walking and don’t forget to share the link to your personal 3-Day fundraising page.

The 3-Day Spirit – Your participation in the boldest breast cancer event in history can inspire your donors to give. On your next training walk, see how long it takes you to walk a mile (for most folks, it’s about 20 minutes), then ask friends and family to make donations in that amount. Amp up the challenge by seeing if you can get 60 people to make those donations, one for each mile you’ll walk. You could also tell your donors that 3-Day walkers hit the pavement in rain or shine, and in the spirit of this all-weather attitude, ask your Facebook friends to make donations to you today in the amount of the high temperature wherever they are.

Use These Graphics! – From time to time, we’ve shared some snazzy fundraising graphics on social media, and you are absolutely welcome and encouraged to share them with your networks too!

1907501_10155701091610392_720080457638824751_n Get your friends, family and neighbors involved with bottling up spare change. Try it this weekend and let us know on Monday how you did!

11846640_10155885576165392_5183736746814051619_n Does your community have any big events coming up? If there’s a parade, festival or concert that will draw a lot of people, see if you can rent a port-a-potty (a pink one, if possible!) to set up at the event site. You can sell “special access” wristbands which will allow guests to tend to their…ahem…”business” without the typical lines or “yuck” factor that comes with more heavily trafficked commodes.

11959996_10155939915235392_7479659791687598527_n Set yourself and some friends up at a busy intersection in your community with pink boots, and when cars stop for red lights, go around and collect donations at the drivers’ windows.