When’s the last time you went to a 100th birthday party? Take the opportunity Oct. 20 at the annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk at Memorial Field, which happens to fall during the year in which the American Cancer Society is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
There’s no better place to take part than Concord. It is routinely the most successful walk, per capita, in the nation. Concord raises $4.07 per capita, compared to the national average of $0.22. Last year’s walk featured more than 5,000 participants and raised $613,763.
Now for the important stuff: registration for the walk goes from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with team photos taking place at the same time.
The opening ceremonies kick off at 12:40 p.m., followed by the survivor procession and photo at 12:45 p.m., with the walk heading out at 1 p.m.
It’s a five-mile walk, with a shortened Survivor Way, a 2.5 mile route for survivors and their family and friends. Inpidual walkers are welcome.
So what’s the day all about? Read on to find out. We’ve got moving stories from participants and their families about what the walk means to them, a first-person account from this year’s volunteer chairwoman – and breast cancer survivor – Donna Wilbur, a visit with Jill Gelinas, who smiled through her own diagnosis a year ago and is back to pitch in yet again and statements from team captains and other participants about why they take part every year.
If you’d like to put a team together and participate, or would like to donate, all you have to do is visit makingstrideswalk.org/concordnh, call 738-4404 or email kmr3@comcast.net. The walk has grown in each of the previous 20 years, from $3,000 in 1993 to last year’s whopping total, so now is the time to get out there and make this the most successful year ever.
