Remarks by a Stage IV breast cancer survivor, the Pinked Out Picture photo celebration, free T-shirts and a quilt raffle highlight the Cancer Conversations event noon Oct. 9 in the Alumni Room, Atwood Memorial Center.
Cancer Conversations is a companion event to the Making Strides breast cancer fundraising walk Oct. 13 at St. Cloud State.
Cancer Conversations begins with the Pinked Out Picture, a group-photo event that celebrates research, programs and survivors. Wear pink and show your support on the porch at Atwood Memorial Center.
The first 100 people to attend Cancer Conversations get a free Making Strides T-shirt.
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Ashley Schepers, of St. Augusta, is cancer-free, but a Stage IV diagnosis, rendered during her recent pregnancy, hovers over her, her daughter and her husband, Eric Schepers ’00.
“My journey is not over. It will never be over, unfortunately,” said Schepers, 34. “I’m happy for the people in my life right now who support me every day, because this journey will never end for me.”
Schepers is the Making Strides honored survivor. She is expected to carry the pink St. Cloud State flag during the survivors’ lap of the Oct. 13 fundraising walk.
During the Cancer Conversations event, Steve Hoover will sell raffle tickets for a Real Men Wear Pink quilt. The quilt was designed by his wife, Chris Hoover, of Whirligig Designs.
Steve Hoover is a retired professor from the Department of Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy. He is one of 13 Real Men Wear Pink community ambassadors for the 2018 Making Strides walk. To-date the men have raised $13,185 toward their $50,000 goal.
Ashley Schepers, Making Strides 2018 honored survivor.
Since 2009, the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of Central Minnesota has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for breast cancer research and programs. St. Cloud State is a Making Strides sponsor. Campus has hosted the walk since 2010.
In 2017, the walk at St. Cloud State raised $75,000. The related Real Men Wear Pink effort, paced by Bob Motzko ’89, former men’s Huskies Hockey coach, earned another $40,000.
Breast cancer by the numbers
The American Cancer Society’s 2018 estimates for breast cancer in the United States:
- Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women
- About 266,120 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women
- About 40,920 women will die from breast cancer
Since 1993, more than 14 million walkers across the United States have raised more than $870 million through Making Strides events.
View a photo-video with music about last year’s Making Strides walk:
