www.AvonWalk.org has inadvertedly created one of the best ways to really see a city –– by walking its streets as you raise millions of collective dollars for Cancer Research that will be poured back into your community. My wife (in the sunglasses) and her two friends named Susan should know. They just walked 26 miles over two days through San Francisco, across the Golden Gate Bridge and back, with over 1900 women from 41 states.
Every three minutes, a woman in the world gets breast cancer. So we can’t say enough about The Avon Foundation, which is doing all it can to raise funds for research. It’s created an entire, well-oiled organization to deal with every step of the fundraising, cancer education, training, support and information sharing for each participant. Each year, you can choose to walk in Charlotte, NC; Washington, DC; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Denver, CO; San Francisco or Los Angeles, CA; or New York City, NY.
The Avon Walk Website covers all the bases for signing up online, offering email suggestions for fundraising efforts, and showing your progress to each individual’s $1,800 goal. They even offer each person or team a Web page so you can personalize your message about a loved one with cancer that has inspired you to walk.
For example, my wife’s friend from Seattle is a breast cancer survivor. She trained up north and flew to SF last weekend for the walk with my wife and another friend. The closing ceremonies were extremely moving. It featured speeches from survivors, including one who was completing her fiftieth(!) walk. In all, the SF participants raised $4.3 million for Breast Cancer Research, $2 million of which was donated by Avon back to Bay Area hospitals and research groups to continue their search for a cure and to provide mammograms for all who need them.