By Cindy Filipenko
Breast cancer is everyone’s issue. And on Monday, April 30 everyone will get a chance to help support research efforts at The Pink Cowboy Party at Pemberton’s Pony Espresso by helping fund team Peak-A-Boobs.
The four-woman team will be participating in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer, a two-day 60 km walk through the streets of Vancouver, to raise awareness of the disease and funds for breast cancer research over the Aug. 17-19 weekend. To participate in the event, each woman is required to raise a minimum of $2,000. So far, the group has about 25 per cent of the required $8,000.
“We all have mothers, sisters, friends. This is a disease that affects everyone,” points out Shannon Ellis, a member of team Peak-A-Boobs.
Though not a survivor herself, Ellis has lost friends and acquaintances to breast cancer.
“This disease seems to be taking younger women and more women, I just don’t want to wait until it’s my mom or me.
“We’re walking for breast cancer, but the money benefits the B.C. Cancer Agency, I like to think of it as an umbrella… research is research.”
Team Peak-A-Boobs, originally a Whistler-Squamish Team, hopes to get people really talking about breast cancer.
“It’s amazing, every time we bring up the team and what we’re doing, someone has a story to tell,” said Ellis.
Past participants in the walk have commented on the sense of community the event builds as participants share their stories of loss and survival. With more than 2,000 people, predominantly women, participating in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer, the stories can be overwhelming. That story-telling aspect of the walk and potential for further de-stigmatizing the disease is something Ellis, a librarian, personally finds very exciting.
