Tag Archives: breast cancer fundraising

The C-Side Sisters + Mister

Sandy, Tammy, and Cara make up three generations participating this year in Tampa Bay

“When my mom started walking in 2005 in Tampa Bay, she really didn’t have a personal connection to breast cancer,” mentioned Cara, who was gearing up to serve lunches to the hundreds of Susan G. Komen 3-Day® participants this weekend in Tampa Bay. “My mom, Tammy, heard a radio spot that was announcing that the Komen 3-Day was coming to Tampa, and she just decided to do it.”

The C-Side Sisters + Mister gather at lunch for a team photo

Tammy then got her mother, Sandy, to walk with her team “The C-Side Sisters” in 2007. “I loved it, but 60 miles is a long way!” laughed Sandy. “Most people don’t realize that lunch and the Pit Stops are a lot of work. We love to do it, but we’re glad to have some men join us this year.” She points to Sergio, her granddaughter Cara’s boyfriend and the one of a few ‘misters,’ who have been helping out for the last three years. This year Cara and Sergio are co-captains of the 27-person team that serves lunches, coordinates medical care, and helps walkers finish their day strong.  One way to perk up the walkers who are traveling 20 miles a day is to dress their lunch spot (and themselves!) in a stylish theme.

The C-Side Sisters seem to really enjoy their Mister (Sergio who is helping out on the Lunch Crew)

“We’ve been the ‘lunch ladies’ for awhile now, and the Tampa Bay 3-Day walkers have come to expect it,” explained Cara, “but we also change the theme on Day 2 of the route. We’re ‘tacky tourists’ on the second day.”

The C-Side Sisters + Misters have been busy over the years. Since 2005, they have raised over $365,000 for breast cancer research and funds for local help to fund mammograms and other prevention and screening. Sandy explained that one of the big fundraisers for the last few years has been their golf tournament ‘Golf For a Cure.’ “It’s been a lot of fun. We’ve had great sponsors and people pay a certain amount to golf certain holes. We had a hole-in-one winner two weeks ago and the person won a 2014 Ford Escape!” The team laughed thinking that the dealership thought that no one would actually make a hole-in-one.

The Lunch Crew gathers after setting up for the hundreds of 3-Day participants ready to walk through in Tampa Bay

This is a great team with three generations of participants this week. Don’t forget to thank your lunch crew this weekend and all the crews that make the 3-Day® possible!

Five members of Team “C-Side Sisters” roll through Pit Stop 1 at Tampa Bay 3-Day

The 3-Day: Atlanta Style

Saturday night’s Camp Show said it all: from the choir Shades of Pink to the dance party that just kept going, the Susan G. Komen 3-Day® in Atlanta this year was one good time after another. The Crew of more than 300 volunteers gathered before the event and very early on Friday morning to make sure the kickoff at Stone Mountain was just perfect. A chilly but dry morning blossomed into a beautiful sunrise as more than 1,000 walkers stretched, did Zumba, and cheered to the launch of a 60-mile walk that would raise over $2.9 million for breast cancer research and local support. Many first-time walkers enjoyed the inspirational Opening Ceremony and over 100 men joined the Komen 3-Day in Atlanta this year!

“Playing it cool” was the name of the game as walkers circled Stone Mountain through the large production set and onto the streets of Clarkston, Avondale Estates and Decatur. A large group of Bank of America employees at Pit Stop 3 cheered walkers who had started to feel the pains of the challenging walk. “No one said anything about those first hills!” smiled one walker when I asked how the day was going. Cheering stations in Decatur and possibly one of the most adorable group of pre-schoolers near the Clarkston First Baptist Church kept spirits high as participants finished the 21.6-mile day at the World Congress Center in Atlanta. Shelley Middleton gave a moving speech that night at the camp show and the Milestone Award was presented to Beth White for her eight years of dedication to the 3-Day®. She has personally raised $65,600 to date and counting! What an inspiration for the fight against breast cancer.

Day 2 rained on and off, enough for walkers to don ponchos on the 19.3-mile route through the northern areas of Atlanta. The Youth Corps once again provided some entertainment at lunch in the Buckhead neighborhood, and the cheering stations, including the Komen Greater Atlanta Affiliate were just awesome. The much anticipated Shades of Pink Choir (made up of 18 breast cancer survivors) rocked the house while the walkers and crew dined after the long day, and an impromptu duet of “I’m Gonna Love You Through It” (Martina McBride) by two of the younger walkers made the evening a musical delight. Joe Moore, a co-survivor, and Melissa Traylor, a young survivor, reminded  the large crowd of why we all work so hard. After the great camp show, things didn’t slow down. A dance party to rival any 3-Day Dance Party exploded with the Youth Corps leading things off!

Day 3 included a 15.3-mile route through Atlanta. The walkers enjoyed especially sunny and cooler weather and a great sunrise as they moved through Piedmont Park and Freedom Park. The Woodward Eagles cheerleaders entertained at a private station near Emory University. Walkers and crew finished the route at Turner Field to the cheers of family and friends (and two wedding proposals!) and celebrated the fight against breast cancer through a program of remembrance of lost loved ones and an appreciation of the survivors of breast cancer. The Survivors’ Circle gathered to raise the flag: “We Will Never Give Up!”

What is your favorite memory of the Atlanta 3-Day?

ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHS

Atlanta 3-Day Day 1 Atlanta 3-Day Day 1 Atlanta 3-Day Day 1 Atlanta 3-Day Day 2 Atlanta 3-Day Day 2 Atlanta 3-Day Day 2 Atlanta 3-Day Day 2 Atlanta 3-Day Day 2 Atlanta 3-Day Day 2 Atlanta 3-Day Day 2 Atlanta 3-Day Day 2 Atlanta 3-Day Day 2 Atlanta 3-Day Day 2 Atlanta 3-Day Day 2 Atlanta 3-Day Day 2 Atlanta 3-Day Day 2 Atlanta 3-Day Day 2 Atlanta 3-Day Day 2 Atlanta 3-Day Day 2 Atlanta 3-Day Day 2 Atlanta 3-Day Day 2 Atlanta 3-Day Day 2 Atlanta 3-Day Day 2

Atlanta 3-Day Day 3 Atlanta 3-Day Day 3 Atlanta 3-Day Day 3 Atlanta 3-Day Day 3

A Stormtrooper with a Cause

Kevin D assembles his walking gear on the Twin Cities 3-Day, dressing as a Stormtrooper from Star Wars on his fight to end breast cancer.

Kevin D. assembles his walking gear on the Twin Cities 3-Day

“I’m Eileen’s husband,” says Kevin this morning as he assembled his walking gear before sunrise. “Oh, and I’m a Stormtrooper,” he adds in a nonchalant way. It’s true. I had noticed him stride out of the Opening Ceremony two days ago in his full Star Wars gear, highlighted with a pink and white armband with a dedication to his wife. At first I thought the highly recognizable Star Wars costume was simply another fun way to walk the 60-mile route, but this was a dedication to Eileen who passed away in November 2012. They had met through the 501st, an international Star Wars organization, and both had matching Stormtrooper costumes and often worked with charities to brighten the mood and raise much needed funds.

Kevin D emerges from his pink tent to walk Day 3 of the Twin Cities 3-Day in honor of his wife

Kevin D. emerges from his pink tent to walk Day 3 of the Twin Cities 3-Day in honor of his wife

“We actually met for the first time in 2006, but she didn’t know who it was because I was in a Star Wars costume!” laughed Kevin. “We met officially one year later.” He flashed the photograph of him–very unrecognizable–in one of the variations of the costumes with Eileen smiling beside him, an arm wrapped around the white hardened plastic, unknowing that this would be her future husband. “I proposed to her in a friend’s Darth Vader’s suit!” He also confirmed that with a picture. (He did take off the mask to propose.) The memories, however, brought back tears, and Kevin stood in a field of disassembled pink tents remembering the legacy of his wife.

Twin Cities 3 Day Storm Trooper Breast Cancer Awareness Star Wars

Kevin D. embraces a neighboring walker at camp on the Twin Cities 3-Day as they remember his wife Eileen

“Eileen started walking the Susan G. Komen 3-Day® many years ago,” explained Kevin. “She has an aunt who is a breast cancer survivor, and she became a strong supporter of the Komen 3-Day over the past several years. This is my first 3-Day, and I’m doing this in her honor. I want to continue to do more around the country.” As we talked, a participant who had been tenting nearby exclaimed that she had known Eileen, and the two embraced remembering this extraordinary woman. The 3-Day offers much more than an opportunity to help others by raising money for breast cancer research; it offers the chance to heal, and we see this over and over as participants who have lost friends, family, wives, husbands, mothers, daughters, aunts, and grandmothers pick up a flag, a banner, a symbol of their loved one and step out onto the street to honor a wonderful life.

Good luck to the Twin Cities 3-Day walkers today in the heat and through the Closing Ceremony!

in memory breast cancer star wars storm trooper

Kevin’s armband dedicates his walk to his wife

Kevin as a stormtrooper moves out onto the route after the Opening Ceremony on the Twin Cities 3-Day, to the delight of children and adults on the route breast cancer

Kevin as a stormtrooper moves out onto the route after the Opening Ceremony on the Twin Cities 3-Day, to the delight of children and adults on the route