Making Strides Walk | Photo by Bethany Althauser | The Wright State Guardian
To celebrate and advertise the Making Strides of Greater Dayton Breast Cancer walk, CWS and Wright State University’s walking team held a tabling event and mini walk to recruit walkers and raise awareness about breast cancer.
What is Making Strides?
Making Strides is an event dedicated to raising funds to fuel the fight against breast cancer.
“The American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer is a celebration of courage and hope, a movement uniting communities to end breast cancer as we know it, for everyone,” the website states.
Participants can sign up to join a walking group and then work to raise funds while representing that team. Finally, the event leads to a 3-mile walk.
Students wanting to participate in this year’s Making Strides of Greater Dayton walk can find out more at the Making Strides website.
Sara Baker, the manager of the Wellness and Health program at WSU, was excited to get involved in Tuesday’s tabling event.
“I got involved when I heard that [WSU] would have a team for the Making Strides walk in October. It is in line with my professional responsibilities, but also let me get involved with a cause that I’m personally interested in, and work with a great team of folks on campus,” Baker said.
“This is our first time hosting a [WSU] team, so we’re working to build momentum towards something important.”
Tabling and Mini Walk
Members of the tabling team set out to BART and prepared two tables with various informational packets and goodie bags. Students could take goodie bags with held pins and even a rubber duck, all adorned with breast cancer imagery.
Campus also had signs to signal to participants where to go during the course of the mini-walk; in total, the walk was roughly one mile, compared to the official walk’s three.
During the few hours the table was up, the group managed to gain exactly 50 signatures from those interested in doing the main walk in October.
The event’s popularity could not have been done without the help of those on the planning team, including members like Bobbie Szabo, Marietta Orlowski, McKenna Gaarsland, Katherine Meyer and Evelyn Oktavec.
How to stay informed
While the walk primarily focuses on breast cancer, informing yourself on all types of cancer detection and prevention is essential to living a happy, healthy life.
Information can be found at cancer.org; here is a short summary of detecting and treating breast cancers in all individuals, with facts found from the website.
Those with breast cancer often do not display any symptoms, which is why consistent cancer screenings are especially important. However, there are some signs that can be found before official diagnosis. This includes lumps, swelling, nipple discharge, breast pain and more.
Also, keep in mind that anyone can get breast cancer. This includes those who were assigned male at birth. Everyone has breast tissue, and anyone with breast tissue has a chance of getting breast cancer, no matter the amount of tissue.
Family history can also affect how at risk you are of certain cancers. Consult with your doctor about your family history and potential screenings that can be done to check for these cancers.
