New England Milestone Award: Mary Anne W.

Meet Mary Anne W., our 2024 New England 3-Day Milestone Award Winner!

Mary Anne has walked 22 times in 20 years, raising a lifetime total of more than $147,000. This year, she walks for her dental hygienist, Tracy, a three-year breast cancer survivor.

What was your inspiration to participate in your first Susan G. Komen 3-Day®?

A co-worker who I regularly walked with gave me the information to register.

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

My first 3-Day walk was in 1998, and then [I] kept registering when Komen took over in 2003. I have walked at least one event each year since. The past two years, I have walked two 3-Day events and will do so this year, too. So, New England will be walk 23 of the Komen 3-Day, then later number 24 in Dallas/Fort Worth.

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

My secret to fundraising is mailing letters that include the donation form [and] a stamped envelope to the bank starting in mid-April. I mail everyone I have ever known in my life. Yep, stamps are expensive, but my donors love getting my letters, which include a photo and story of someone I know personally who has had breast cancer. This year I am walking for Tracy, my dental hygienist. She is 51, and a 3-year survivor. My letter and a photo of Tracy are below.

“I’m on the road again this year with my 23^rd 3-Day. This time I am walking to honor Tracy, my dental hygienist and a 3-year breast cancer survivor. Here is her breast cancer story:

‘I moved from Nebraska to Arizona in June 2021 so excited to start working right away at a Prescott, AZ dental office as a Dental Hygienist. Just one month later I was diagnosed with Stage 2B breast cancer with lymph node involvement and very high in Estrogen. A lumpectomy was performed in September and a port was placed in November of that year. A/C “Red Devil” chemotherapy started in December, every other week for 2 months, followed by a less potent chemotherapy which occurred weekly for three months. I then got to take a break for a couple months to regain some strength before the Radiation Oncologist needed 15 chest x-rays and radiation continued every morning Monday through Friday for 18 weeks. Next, it was a challenge to find the right combination of hormone blockers that didn’t make my muscles and bones ache. I now get acupuncture and massages weekly to help with the neuropathy in my feet. I just recently started to feel less fatigued, now I’m able to go on walks and I hope to start a workout routine again soon.

I’m so lucky that I have a job that I was able to continue to work while going through cancer treatment.

During all my treatments my husband cooked, cleaned and shopped so I could rest, I am so lucky to have him, my family, friends and patients that have kept me positive throughout my cancer journey.’

Tracy’s journey with this disease will hopefully inspire those you know to take breast health seriously and get your annual mammograms, etc. I am hoping you will donate today to my fundraising using the enclosed donation form and envelope addressed to the lockbox in Dallas. If you prefer to donate online, go to The3Day.org, type my name and choose the donation amount.

Thank you for continuing to care about breast cancer and finding the cures.”

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

The event is three days of walking and meeting new faces who may wind up being a very good friend.

What’s a fun fact about you?

I am 80 years old and played competitive tennis from age 4 to 70. I have been playing pickleball since January and, with my tennis background, have picked up the sport easily. I live in a community that has many retired people who also play the game, [so I have made] lots of new friends with this sport. I have also been an active YMCA member since age 4 [and] have been married to Tom for 60 years. I do cardio classes 5 days a week, pickleball 4 days, and walk 5 miles a day.

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

Start your fundraising as early as possible, train, and be kind always.

Debby R. is the 2023 Dallas/Fort Worth 3-Day Milestone Award Winner!

After 10 years and 26 3-Days, Debby R. has raised a lifetime total of more than $65,000 to help find the cures to breast cancer. Affectionately known as Mama Bear by her team Angels for the Cure, Debby is one of the most creative fundraisers that the Pink Bubble has ever seen. Her beloved teammate Bill W. shared that “It does not matter if you are on another team, you can train or fundraise with Angels for a Cure!” She fundraises with car washes, Sonic car hopping, Dippin’ Dots, Muddin’, Rednecks with Paychecks and beyond, always coming up with fun ways to help everyone achieve their fundraising goals. “I was always in awe and sometimes jealous of the ideas and ways she came up with to raise money… she is there to win this fight and to help anyone who needs help to get their money raised,” boasted her friends Donna W. and Sharon R.

Get to know Debby a bit better as we honor her as our 2023 Dallas/Fort Worth 3-Day Milestone Award Winner!

What was your inspiration to participate in your first 3-Day???

My mom was first diagnosed [with breast cancer] in 2002 and started her treatments in 2003. I heard radio advertisements about the 3-Day for a couple of years, but I was first scared away in 2005 when the Dallas/Fort Worth event was in June and I had a 6-month-old. Then in 2006, I was scared away because I was intimidated by the fundraising goal. At the beginning of 2007, my mom sent me an email (an email, really???) to let me know her cancer was back and had metastasized to her lungs. I knew then I couldn’t sit on the sidelines anymore, so I went to an info meeting and signed up for my very first event!

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

Like so many others before and more to come, I was terrified that first year that I wouldn’t be able to walk all 60 miles. I waited until the last minute before making the decision to sign up again, but being in the Pink Bubble for three days, meeting new friends and hearing their stories, passing through the cheer stations, getting hugs from a stranger as a thanks for helping to save his wife’s life, how could anyone walk away from all of this? The first walk was for my mom, but every walk afterwards has been for my future, my daughter, my nieces, my sisters, my friends, my Pink Bubble family, and for the next person diagnosed, to give a glimmer of hope for a future.

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

I come up with a lot of ideas and sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. I just keep trying and stick with what works well for me and my team.

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

Train and fundraise with a team. It could be your team or join an existing one, but when you train and fundraise with others, it’s a better experience.

What’s a fun fact about you?

One time at band camp… yes, I was in band. I was on the flag corps and drill team while in high school for football and concert season. I played the auxiliary percussion instruments (cymbals, bass drum, triangle, bells, xylophone) because I could count and couldn’t read music… LOL

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

You are never alone on the 3-Day. We are all on the same team to eradicate breast cancer.

Beth N. is the 2023 Chicago Milestone Award Winner!

Our 2023 Chicago 3-Day Milestone Award Winner is 44-time participant Beth N.!

Over the past 17 years, Beth N. has participated in 44 3-Days and has raised a grand total of $122,328. She is known to be a walking, talking 3-Day encyclopedia and if she doesn’t know the answer to a 3-Day question, she’ll find it for you. She has dedicated a huge part of her life to building the 3-Day family, raising funds for the cause, and being a friend to everyone at the 3-Day. Beth’s friend describes her as “one of the most welcoming people that I have ever met” stating that “when newbies are searching for guidance, Beth will show them the way.” Get to know Beth and how she truly personifies what it means to be part of the Pink Bubble ? encouraging, motivating and inspiring!

What was your inspiration to participate in your first 3-Day??

Honestly, at my first 3-Day in 2002, I didn’t know anyone who had breast cancer. It was the first time an event like this had been in Michigan and I was testing myself to see if I could actually walk 60 miles! Then, of course, I fell in love with everyone in the Pink Bubble and couldn’t stop!

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

Knowing that I’m making a difference in someone’s life with the money I’m raising each year brings me back each year. That and, of course, my addiction to the Pink Bubble! ?

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

It is no secret that I’ve got the best support system around! My friends and family are always there to support each fundraiser I hold, buy my card boxes, ask me to make a quilt or just donate to my 3-Day account. I am truly blessed!

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

Just do it! Don’t think about it too hard or you might talk yourself out of it. It seems daunting, yes, but if you take the plunge, you won’t regret it. There’s such a large team of coaches and participants who will help you on your journey and it will be one of the best weekends of your life!

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

Take time to stop and smell the roses, make a new friend, be a friend, give and receive hugs, and believe in yourself. We are all wildly capable of doing amazing things as long as we just believe!