Walk to Make a Difference

By Donna Bumgarner, CPA

In last month’s chapter Bulletin, you may have seen a notice titled “Community Outreach: CPAs Who Care.” In that article, we announced that we were forming a team to participate in the Bay Area American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk. The 5-kilometer noncompetitive walk is being held Saturday, Oct. 31, and begins and ends at the Arena Green. The course travels along the beautiful Guadalupe River Park trail and winds through downtown San Jose. This is the second year that the walk will be held in San Jose. It will provide us with an opportunity to honor those who have been impacted by breast cancer and will raise both funds and awareness to help end the disease.

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer is more than just the name of a walk; it describes the progress being made to help people stay well, get well, find a cure and fight back. You’ve heard it said that every donation makes a difference, and it really is true. Here are a few of the ways our donations will help save lives:

• More people in our community will have the information and tools they need to help prevent breast cancer or detect it early.
• More people with cancer will have a place to turn for help during treatment, whether it’s a free ride to their treatment, a place to stay or just talking to someone who has “been there.”
• More women like our own mothers, daughters, sisters and grandmothers will have access to lifesaving mammograms and the treatment they need.

I know that the economic environment is difficult for many of us, but any amount donated will make a difference. The walk does not require a registration fee or minimum fund-raising amount, and people of all ages are welcome to participate. Each of us has our own reasons for caring about the fight against breast cancer. I participated in the San Francisco event for several years, both as a walker and as a volunteer, in memory of my parents, who both succumbed to cancer. Now that the event is in San Jose, I hope that we can join together to help raise dollars and awareness. I invite you to join the CalCPA Silicon Valley San Jose Chapter’s team either as a walker or by making a donation. Sign up early so that we can order enough CalCPA T-shirts for our walkers!

Hope for a cure starts with one walker and one dollar at a time. You can reach our team page online.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 at 1:56 pm and is filed under President's Message. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.