Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure/ I am the Cure

Each Survivor is given a balloon for each year they have survived after beating breast cancer. At the end of the Survivor Ceremony they release the ballons. It is an amazing site to behold. The oldest survivor that we had participate had made it to 54 years. The poor lady almost had to be tied down before she floated away!

Mom and Dad were so awesome in being some of our volunteers. They helped me at one of the I am the Cure Educational booths that was located in the main expo area.

We had volunteer Cheer Groups come from the local high schools and dance studios.

When people come out to do this race they come with their hearts in the right place. I saw this group of guys and gal dressed in pink dresses and just had to get a picture. They were quite funny.

Not only was I on the Race committee but I was the Team Captain for my office. I was trying to check in the I am the Cure volunteers and make sure that the members of the "Eastover IntegriTeam" made it to our office table and to the starting line. It was a lot of fun!

These girls were awesome! They were pretty pumped for 6:00 in the morning.

These are survivors of breast cancer. After the walk we have a survivor ceremony in their honor.

After being hounded by family to get a blog, I have finally caved in. I now have my own blog. Oh boy! I hope everyone is very excited! I finally was able to convince myself that I should succumb to this peer pressure. LOL! I figured it was good peer pressure. So, I said to myself, I love to journal and this is a new and exciting way of journal writing.

I just finished my first year of serving on the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure/I am the Cure committee. Many people didn't realize that I was on the ACTUAL committe that planned the race. Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is the largest 5 K in Charlotte, NC. Last year we had 13,000 registered participants and this year it went up to 15,900. This was our 12th year in Charlotte. I had a blast being able to meet many new people not only on the committee but also from the community.

I am the Cure is the educational side to Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. From doing the Race for the Cure, nationals found out that many people were helping raise money for something they really didn't even know anything about. So they created an educational program to go out and share life saving facts and suggestions. Working as a co-chair to I am the Cure, I have gained so much knowledge about becoming more aware of breast cancer. For instance 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer. The number one risk factor for getting breast cancer is just being a woman and the second greatest cause is growing older. I have found that the majority of the population, including me, thought that the number one risk factor was having a family history of breast cancer. When in fact only 5-10% of those with breast cancer is it in their family. I was blown away when I learned this. So the two risk factors are things that I have no control over, but I can help myself become better aware with breast cancer and in detecting it. That is why the key to survival is "EARLY DETECTION!" That I do have a control over.