Please join us in congratulating our 2017 Philadelphia Milestone Award Winner; Leedrester Jackson. 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 Leedrester with this special honor.
This is her 12th year walking the 3-Day, and she is a 30-year breast cancer survivor, having beaten breast cancer three times. She has also raised nearly $5,500 this year alone!
She is well-known in Philadelphia, and we wanted to hear about the 3-Day and Leedrester’s story in her own words. When we asked these questions, she didn’t know she would soon be selected as our winner!
What was your inspiration to do your first 3-Day?
As a breast cancer survivor, I wanted to be a part of helping people detect cancer early enough to beat it, and finally find a cure. In 2005, The 3-Day came to Philadelphia and the 68 – year old lady “lost her senses” and volunteered to walk 60 miles in three days and if that wasn’t enough, to camp out for two nights.
What has brought you back to the 3-Day year after year?
I walk because… as a three-time breast cancer survivor, I continue to enjoy good health and so I walk for those who can’t.
What is the secret to your 3-Day fundraising success?
I send letters to family, friends and church family (Grace Baptist Church of Germantown – Rev. Dr. James H. Buck, Jr., Pastor) many of whom have been prayerfully and financially supportive of me on my eleven years 3-Day journey. My supporters are committed to helping find a cure for breast cancer. They do the donating and I do the walking.
After the walk, I show them how much I appreciate them by sending thank you letters in which I share the weekend events with pictures.
Leedrester got a standing ovation from her fellow Philly 3-Dayers
What is your best advice to anyone walking the 3-Day?
Practice, practice, practice on the hills because Philly is very hilly and keep your feet lubricated.
What’s a fun fact about you?
2017 Weekend Destination Birthday Celebration celebrated with 74 women. The Lord blessed me to celebrate 80 years young and I am a three-time breast cancer survivor: 30 years, 15 years, and 7 years. This was truly a fun fact weekend.
What are the most important lessons you’ve learned on the 3-Day?
I have learned that you need to stay hydrated, stay alert, keep stretching and take good care of your feet.
On behalf of all of us walking, crewing, and supporting the Susan G. Komen 3-Day, thank you Leedrester.
What is your best advice to anyone walking the 3-Day?
The top training walk leader for the 2016 Seattle 3-Day is Tath Hossfeld. Tath will be a 33-year survivor this November, and has participated in the 3-Day 24 times in the last 13 years (she’ll be doing walk number 25 in Atlanta in a few weeks). She is the captain of the team Flamingo Road, a mentor to other walkers, and a devoted volunteer. Tath has been a training walk leader for the last 10 years and this year, she led 29 walks with 114 attendees. She is meticulous about planning her training walks and goes out of her way to make sure everyone there feels comfortable, supported, and informed while also looking for ways to make them fun for everyone. Tath also won the Local Impact Award 
The 3-Day Youth Corps are kids between the ages of 10 and 16 who come out to cheer and support the 3-Day walkers and crew members. They are required to raise a minimum of $500 in order to participate, which makes it all the more extraordinary to share that 15-year-old Lauren Simpson, a first-time Youth Corps member from Danville, CA, raised $1,905 this year. Way to go, Lauren!
Congratulations to Cathy Youngling, the top crew fundraiser for Seattle, who raised an astonishing $10,040 this year, bringing her lifetime fundraising total to $97,333. Cathy is part of the Pit Stop 2 team, and this year’s Seattle 3-Day is her 11th event in 8 years. She is captain of the team Are We There Yet? in Seattle. Cathy is also a 21-year survivor, and is Grammy to two sweet girls who love to wear pink (not because of breast cancer but because it’s pretty with their sparkly shoes).
For the third consecutive year, the top individual walker fundraiser in Seattle is Loretta Englishbee, with $26,115 raised this year. Loretta has raised nearly $400,000 alone since starting with the 3-Day 11 years ago. Unfortunately, due to a family emergency, Loretta and her Team Bee teammates were unable to join us at the Seattle event this year; her teammate Michelle and friend Kathy accepted the award on Loretta’s behalf.
And big congratulations to Valley Girls & Guys, which was both the largest team on the Seattle 3-Day (150 members) and the top fundraising team, with $320,480 raised this year. Valley Girls & Guys, captained by Tina McDonough, has raised $2,398,313 in its 8 years as a Seattle 3-Day team. Wow!
This year’s Seattle 3-Day Milestone Award winner is Randy Gangnes. Randy has been a 3-Day participant for 12 years, and all 12 of her walks have been in Seattle. She is the captain of In The Pink, and in her years as a 3-Day walker, she has personally raised over $67,400. When she’s not out training or fundraising for the 3-Day, Randy teaches first grade, enjoys singing, reading and traveling, and is an avid Seahawks fan and season ticket holder. Her husband Ron—who has also been a Seattle 3-Day walker for 12 years—told us, “Randy is shy and unassuming and will definitely be embarrassed by this attention.” Randy herself is also a breast cancer survivor, having been diagnosed with DCIS in 2003. “Komen is a way of life for us, something our family, still to this day, doesn’t understand completely,” Ron shared. “Randy is the definition of selflessness. She feels that if she can prevent just one person from having to go through what she did, then all the miles she’s walked (probably over 6,000 miles) are worth it.” Merrilyn, a close friend and long-time teammate of Randy’s told us, “Randy is my inspiration for walking in the 3-Day. I see her passion for the cause, and witness her tireless efforts in fundraising and training, and know that I want to match her enthusiasm with my own. Randy not only walks in the 3-Day, she walks the belief in Susan G. Komen all year long. She is a true ambassador for the 3-Day and everyone who knows her understands that raising money for curing breast cancer is one of her life values. Randy is absolutely deserving of this 3-Day Milestone Award!” We couldn’t agree more!
We were delighted to recognize Kathy Bressler with the 2016 Seattle 3-Day Local Impact Award. Kathy has been a 3-Day walker and captain of Sole Mates for 8 years, and has personally raised over $30,000 for the 3-Day. Like so many others, her reasons for becoming involved with the 3-Day were deeply personal: both her grandmother and mother died from breast cancer. Kathy’s involvement with the breast cancer cause has been a life-long passion, extending even further than the 3-Day; she has served as board president of Komen Puget Sound for a two-year term while holding her position as President of Franciscan Health System’s Saint Clare Hospital. Her teammate Jennifer shared, “Kathy has always been an advocate for finding a cure for breast cancer for others, never thinking that she would be the 1 in 8.” Yes, Kathy herself was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in late 2015, and not surprisingly, she faced it head-on. “Through her journey she has never taken the role of a victim and she was not going to succumb to this disease. She has spoken often of the advances that have come from funds raised through Susan G. Komen and the 3-Day, but that there is more work to do.” Since her diagnosis, Kathy committing to growing her 3-Day team even more, and this year, they were the fourth highest fundraising team in Seattle. Kathy was the Survivor Speaker in the Friday camp show in Seattle as well.