Breast cancer walk at Flushing Meadows Corona Park
expects nearly 20,000 Queens residents to participate
The Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk at Flushing Meadows Corona Park on Oct. 20 will honor and celebrate breast cancer survivors, educate people about the importance
of early detection and prevention, and raise money to fund lifesaving research and support programs. Photo via Facebook/Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Queens
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
It’s all about pink power at
this year’s American Cancer
Society’s premier event, Making
Strides Against Breast
Cancer Walk, at Queens’
Flushing Meadows Corona
Park on Sunday, Oct. 20.
About 20,000 borough residents
are expected to attend
the walk to raise awareness
and funds to help fight breast
cancer. The noncompetitive
walking event unites communities
to honor and celebrate
breast cancer survivors, educate
people about the importance
of early detection and
prevention, and raise money
to fund lifesaving research
and support programs.
“There are 120 walks
across the country, 19 of them
in New England. The walks
range in distance from three
to six miles,” said Meagan
Hallworth, senior manager of
Community Development at
the American Cancer Society.
“Participants can take as long
as they want to finish. Making
Strides Against Breast Cancer
is not a race; it is a celebration
of survivorship, an occasion
to express hope, and a shared
goal to end a disease that
threatens the lives of so many
people we love.”
There are many ways to get
involved with Making Strides
Against Breast Cancer. Participants
can register and lead
a team, walk with an existing
team or go solo, volunteer or
become a sponsor.
“There are new elements
to the walk this year, such as
Reflection Row. People can
purchase a pink flag at the
walk and dedicate it to someone
they love who has fought
or is fighting cancer, or if
they themselves are a survivor,”
Hallworth said. “They
can walk with those flags and
plant them in the ground the
last mile of the walk to represent
all those we are
fighting for. There will
also be a Food Truck
Row, as well as new
tents (Caregiver and
Fitness Zones).”
“We require a
minimum of 500 volunteers
to run this
event smoothly. We
appreciate all of
the support the
community
gives for
this event.
We are a
volunteer
run organization,
and rely
on our volunteers to host these
community events,” Hallworth
added.
The ACS is looking to
reach their fund-raising goal
of $750,000. So far, the organization
has raised a total of
$149,469.
Funds raised at
the event will go
toward innovative
research
to better understand,
prevent,
find and
treat the disease;
supporting
patients with free
rides to chemo, free
places to stay near
hospitals, a live 24/7
cancer helpline;
and education
prevention helping
people to reduce
their breast
cancer risk or
early detection when
it may be easier to treat.
According to the ACS,
apart from skin cancer, breast
cancer is the most common
cancer type in women. In 2019,
about 271,270 new cases of invasive
breast cancer will be
diagnosed and about 62,930
cases of carcinoma in situ (CIS
— non-invasive and earliest
form of breast cancer) will be
diagnosed in women.
On the day of the event, participants
at Flushing Meadows
Corona Park are expected
to check-in at 8 a.m. and the
walk will begin at 10 a.m. To
learn more about the Making
Strides of Queens or for other
information, call 800-227-2345;
or contact your local American
Cancer Society office with
the information provided below:
Megan Hallworth at QueensNYStrides@
cancer.org or
call 718-517-3214. Visit the office:
Skyview Wellness Center
131-07 40th Rd. Suite E.28,
Flushing, NY 11354
34 TIMESLEDGER, OCT. 11-17, 2019 BT QNS.COM
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