Columbus turned out in pink on Sunday morning as the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk took over Genoa Park, bringing survivors, families, caregivers and supporters together on the downtown riverfront for one of the city’s signature fall fundraisers.
The walk, which stepped off at 9 a.m. from Genoa Park along the Scioto River, is the Columbus edition of the nation’s largest network of breast cancer events. Participants could walk as part of a team, lead a team of their own or take part solo, and fundraising continued through walk day as teams pushed toward their goals.
The stakes behind the event are personal for nearly everyone in the crowd. According to the American Cancer Society, one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime, and more than four million breast cancer survivors are living in the United States today, alongside roughly 150,000 patients living with metastatic disease.
Money raised through Making Strides funds breast cancer research and the society’s patient programs, which reach well beyond the laboratory. Those services include free rides to treatment through the Road to Recovery program, free lodging for patients who must travel for care, and a live 24/7 cancer helpline at 1-800-227-2345 that connects patients and caregivers with information and support at any hour.
For central Ohio families, those programs matter close to home. A patient in Marion, Lancaster or Newark facing weeks of daily treatment trips can use the society’s ride and lodging help to keep appointments that might otherwise be missed, and local fundraising walks like Sunday’s are a major source of the dollars that keep those services running in Ohio communities.
Sunday’s walk capped a full Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Columbus, landing on the final weekend of October alongside a calendar of charity runs and walks across the metro area. Organizers describe Making Strides as a celebration of courage and hope as much as a fundraiser — a morning when survivors are honored publicly and families walking in memory of someone they lost do so surrounded by thousands of others doing the same.
Anyone who missed the walk can still support the Columbus event: donations and team pages remain open through the Making Strides website at makingstrideswalk.org/columbus, and the American Cancer Society accepts contributions year-round for its research and patient support programs.
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