While strong winds and cool temperatures were hard to ignore during the annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk last weekend at Jones Beach State Park, its pink-wearing participants remained focus on honoring the strength of survivors. The event attracted over 70,000 people, according to some estimates, many of them from Freeport.
Sponsored by the American Cancer Society and a number of corporate partners, the walk helps fund cancer research, patient support and advocacy efforts, in the hope of ending breast cancer.
The Village of Freeport was one of over a thousand teams that registered donation campaigns for the event. Local walkers raised over $1,700, and the campaign is still accepting online donations. As of press time, the Freeport total ranked 211th.
One of the village team leaders was Meshessna Craig, a clerk in the Building Department. She mentioned that several breast cancer survivors in the village have inspired her to participate in the cancer walk for years. She also told the Herald that she has two friends who have had breast cancer, one who is a 14-year survivor and the other, Scotia Cruz, who died in 2023.
“I believe it’s important for the community to show support, because going through these life challenges can make a person believe they’re by themselves,” Craig said. “This support allows the person the opportunity to know there are others going through what they have gone through, and [to] have access to additional resources that they may not have had access to.”
Trinity Allen, another Freeport Building Department employee and breast cancer campaign organizer, echoed Craig’s sentiments regarding the.
“I just think it’s important to support cancer [victims] just in general,” she said. “It’s a very aggressive thing, whether it’s little or big. People need support.”
Some of the other groups that were represented included the Freeport Teachers Association and Roosevelt High School’s Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps.
Photo booths, merchandise and medical information were also available to attendees before or after they walked along the six-mile park.
