The Letter (Round 1)

My original plea/explanatory letter...ugly HTML codes and all.
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This September, I will be walking in the Seattle Breast Cancer 3-Day event. Over the course of a weekend, I will walk 60 miles alongside my mom, who lost her sister to breast cancer about 10 years ago. It’s January. So why am I telling you about this now?

I have to raise $2300 in donations to participate in this walk. I want to raise $2500. At least. It seems like a lot, but compared to what breast cancer fighters go through, it's nothing.

I’ve seen cancer in many forms, from my Aunt Patti, who fought hard and exceeded her doctors' life expectancy by years. I’ve seen the mothers of some of my best friends stare it down, right in the eye, and beat it. I’ve seen an 11-year-old child, my friend and former nanny charge, get hit with leukemia in 2006, only to put on her gloves and send it into remission, where it has stayed.

But perhaps most importantly, I know I’m not the only one who has seen things. I know I'm not the only one who knows someone. I know I'm not the only one who has gotten that call about a loved one, read that email that stops their heart. I know that other people have lost their mothers, their sisters, their daughters, their aunts, their nieces, their lovers, their friends. I know that their families have been pulled apart in so many directions, that just the thought of holding on, holding it together for one more day seems impossible. I know that I am a lucky one. But I also know that it can’t last.

This year more than 200,000 women and men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,000 will lose their life to the disease.

40,000 people will die from breast cancer this year. Imagine everyone you know losing someone they love, and then double that. Triple that. Quadruple that. 40,000 people.

200,000 people will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. If you don’t know someone who already has been, chances are you will. It doesn’t matter what age, race, gender, class, location, sexual orientation, political belief, religion… it doesn’t matter. 200,000 people from all walks of life will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. And 40,000 will not survive.

So what can you do? Walking for 60 miles isn’t going to cure cancer. Raising $2300, $2500, $5000 isn’t going to cure cancer.

But it will help.

Net proceeds from the Breast Cancer 3-Days benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure to fund breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment programs, as well as the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund, to provide a permanent endowment for breast cancer initiatives.

What do I need? I need 125 people to donate $20. That’s it.

$20.

200,000 diagnoses. 40,000 lost.

How many lives can you save?

Please consider supporting me.

There are many battles going on… let’s focus on the war.

Love,
Lauren

PS- If you would like to donate, please visit: http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Events/General?fr_id=1170&pg=pfind and search for my name. I'm walking with Team PK (Patti Kay, my aunt). You can donate online, over the phone, or by mail. Just email me with any questions. Thank you!