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SPRINGFIELD – Denise Jordan and Lucia "Lucy" Giuggio Carvalho have a lot to celebrate during Baystate Health's "Rays of Hope" walk to breast cancer treatment on October 21 in Forest Park.
They are both breast cancer survivors. Carvalho participates every year as founder of fundraising 25 years ago and Jordan as president.
The event, which attracts approximately 24,000 participants, has raised over $ 14.2 million to date through funding from the Baystate Health Foundation to help patients and their families affected by the disease. breast cancer.
The funds created the Rays of Hope Center for Breast Cancer Research and funding for the Baystate Health Breast Network Survival Program.
Jordan, who was attending Carvalho at a recent event celebrating the growth of the Breast Cancer Research Registry of the Love Center for the Treatment of Cancer, said she was "deeply honored" to chair the event. this year's event.
"As a survivor, you know the work that they do here," said Jordan, adding that her breast cancer had been diagnosed at an early stage and that she had been treated at Baystate in 2014.
"I also love participating in a fundraiser where recipes are used directly to help women in the area.You know where the money goes."
Jordan, a long-time member of Rays of Hope's Community Advisory Board, said presiding over the event to raise awareness not only as a survivor but also "in memory of one of my best friends – Tracy Whitley – who worked for Baystate Health and battled cancer for a number of years.
"She was my source of inspiration," said Jordan of Whitley, who died at the age of 50 in 2017.
The former chief of staff of Domenic Sarno, Mayor of Springfield, Jordan, began his new job at the head of the Springfield Housing Authority on Monday, October 1, a few days after helping to organize the delivery. Pink, Diamonds & Denim that has helped to collect rays of hope.
Carvalho described the march's evolution as rays of hope that she had begun while she was recovering from a "miracle" breast cancer treatment regarding the growth of this community and how "this community is really close".
A registered nurse who worked at the Baystate Medical Center's Oncology Unit, Carvalho was only 38 years old when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993.
At the time, she was inspired by other walks in Boston that then approached Baystate to raise funds for breast health services. The first walk attracted some 500 marchers and raised $ 50,000.
Dr. Grace Makari-Judson, Medical Oncologist, Co-Director of the Rays of Hope Breast Cancer Research Center and Chair of the Baystate Health Breast Network, paid tribute to Carvalho in a statement regarding the October 21 event.
"Lucy's inspiring goal of enhancing the experience of individuals and their families with breast cancer by providing resources, coordinating care and developing expertise here at Baystate has achieved its goal, "said Makari-Judson, who has been involved in the event since the beginning.
"As for his goal of finding a cure, that's why we keep walking."
The decline in annual breast cancer mortality rates in the United States has been attributed to improved treatment and screening. It is estimated that there are approximately 3.1 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.
The disease is more common in African-American women under age 45 than in white women, and it is said that African-American women are more likely to die of the disease.
The risk of developing and dying of breast cancer would be lower in Asian, Hispanic and Native American women.
It is estimated that 1 in 8 Americans will develop invasive breast cancer in their lifetime.
The risk of breast cancer in humans for life is about 1 in 1,000.
The fundraiser, for which registration can be done online, leaves Temple Beth El, 979 Dickinson Street, and wraps around Forest Park with a choice of two- or five-mile trails for hikers.
The 9th annual race to 8K is coordinated and timed by Fleet Feet.
The registration for the race starts at 7:30 am and is followed by a stage at 8:30; the registration for the walk starts at 9:00 and the stop at 10:30.
The program of the stage starts at 9:45.
Parking for runners is reserved at Lenox American Saw parking lot in East Longmeadow.
Buses begin to circulate at 7:30 for runners to Beth El and at 8:30 for walkers.
Information on other parking options for walkers is available online.
More information about the event, whether it is raining or rain, is available online.
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