Thousands rally against cancer

Record march raises more than $2.5 million

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Despite 40-mph winds, tens of thousands of participants braved the weather to help make the American Cancer Society’s 25th annual walk against breast cancer at Jones Beach State Park on Oct. 21 a success.

The organization estimated that 65,000 people attended the walk, dubbed Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, and raised more than $2.5 million, according to ACS Communications Director Patrice Lestrange Mack. “Obviously, it was windy. Obviously, it was cold . . . but they were gathering all before sunrise,” she said. “It is such an amazing example.”

Young and old, family members, friends and co-workers of those who have breast cancer — even dogs — took part, Lestrange Mack said.

Katie Geopfrich, the society’s senior manager of community development for Long Island, said that after a year of planning and organizing, it was nice to see people enjoying the walk. “Everyone has incredible stories,” Geopfrich said. One man, she recounted, called the society wanting to make a donation to one of the sponsor teams. “He said he’d been walking since the beginning — he said for 25 years,” she said. “He made a promise to the person he lost that he would help to find a cure, and until that cure is found, he’ll walk every single year. I think that is so poignant.”

The walk is a “whirlwind for staff,” Geopfrich said. “There is just so much going on.” She said she saw teams with the names of their organizations emblazoned on their T-shirts, listened to their cheering and had the chance to “just hear the survivor stories and watch people walk the boardwalk.”

Nationwide, the society hosts roughly 200 such events each year, but the Jones Beach walk is the largest. It used to be held in Eisenhower Park, but outgrew the East Meadow facility.

This year’s walk was bigger than past years, in terms of both participants and money raised, Geopfrich said. She added that she was proud that the Jones Beach event was the biggest in the country. “It’s really nice to see Long Island come out in the top spot,” she said.

With more than $62 million in breast cancer research grants, Lestrange Mack said, the American Cancer Society leads the way in research and patient information. It also offers support services, such as the Road to Recovery Program, in which drivers shuttle patients to and from treatments.

The ACS is the only organization that offers services and support for every kind of cancer diagnosis and treatment, Lestrange Mack said. It receives more than a million phone calls a year, and helps cancer patients with all manner of information, 24 hours a day.

“Somebody gets a breast cancer diagnosis and maybe they’re trying to understand …,” she said, “so we have cancer information specialists, even at 2 in the morning, who can tell you about some of the things you’re concerned about or that you’re worrying about.”

Lestrange Mack remembered that when her father was diagnosed with prostate cancer, she wanted to know about his treatment options, and said the society provided her with all the information she wanted. “I didn’t want him to worry,” she said. “But I was worried, and as a caregiver, I needed a sense of understanding.”

The money raised at the Making Strides walk, she said, helps “to fuel these patient programs, to fuel the services, to fuel this research. But it’s just as important to raise awareness about breast cancer, and how we can reduce cancer with early detection and with prevention measures.”

The ACS recommends that women get annual breast cancer screenings beginning at age 40, and mammograms beginning at 45, Lestrange Mack said. Women 55 and older are advised to speak with their doctors about how often they should get screenings. “Our goal,” she added, “is to make people understanding that early detection save lives.”

The society’s main Long Island office is in Hauppauge. For more information, call (800) 227-2345 or go to www.cancer.org.