The Desert Advocate

Editor | Links | Contact Us | Home

Classifieds | News | Events

Ross Mason photo

Team W.I.S.H. (Walking in Spirit and Hope) 2007 captain Linda Kacmarsky is pictured with memorabilia from past fund‑raisers. An orientation meeting for this year’s walk will be held at 7:30 p.m. March 7 at the Anthem Community Center.
(Click picture for full size image)

Thousands walk in spirit and hope
by Kathleen Stinson

ANTHEM – The largest Arizona team in the 3‑Day Breast Cancer Walk, benefitting Susan G. Komen for the Cure, grew from four walkers from Anthem in 2004 to a team of 2,100 in 2006.

In 2004, Anthem residents Linda Kacmarsky, Pat Drapac, Liz Turner and Faye Tisot formed a four‑person team to walk in the event. From there, Team W.I.S.H. or Walking in Spirit and Hope grew to 40 members to be the top fundraising team, donating $84,500 in the 2004 walk. A Team W.I.S.H. golf classic and other fundraising events brought in $200,000 for the 2005 walk as the team grew to 86, again taking home the honor of No. 1 money raisers statewide.

In the 2006 race, Team W.I.S.H. grew to 300 crew members and 2,100 walkers, raising $5.3 million.

“We have to remember it’s not about the numbers or who raises the most money. It’s about raising awareness for breast cancer and finding a cure,” said Kacmarsky, 2007 team captain. Drapac is the 2007 Team W.I.S.H. co‑captain.

Kacmarsky, a breast cancer survivor herself, said the survival rate for breast cancer victims is improving. Today, 98 percent of women over 40 years of age get regular mammograms compared to 30 percent in 1982.

She said the walk is a very emotional journey. Each participant trains about 500 hours and must raise a minimum of $2,100.

“My personal motivation for this is: find a cure for breast cancer,” Kacmarsky said.

“Without a cure, one out of eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer–five million women over the next 25 years. Of that five million, one million could die,” Kacmarsky said.

One benefit of the walk is that participants form strong friendships as they train together.

“I didn’t (at first) know a lot of these people who joined the team,”Kacmarsky said. “We come together as strangers, but by the 3‑Day walk, we are bonded as a group of individuals who have solved the world’s problems and heard about each others’ husbands on a bad day. It’s better than a therapy session.”

The Team W.I.S.H. orientation meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. on March 7 at the Anthem Community Center, 41130 N. Freedom Way in Anthem. People interested in finding out more about the walk to be held Nov. 2, 3, and 4 are invited to attend. Registration for the walk will be available at the meeting.

For more information, contact Kacmarsky at kramsky2@qwest.net.

Back To Community