WHY WE WALK
It's a new year and while alumni members are committing to another year of fundraising, wanting to make a difference and signing up again for the Arizona 60 Mile Breast Cancer Walk benefiting Susan G. Komen For The Cure 3Day, new members are joining and taking on the challenge.
We invite you to come along and join us on our journey as we fund raise through the year and then you'll better understand
'Why We Walk' and 'Why We Crew!"
My name is Julie Vreones and I am proud to join Team W.I.S.H. for the 2010 Arizona 3Day. I will be part of the 'crew' and am very excited to support all those who walk this year. My sister Pat, is a breast cancer survivor and one of the most important women in my life. I am lucky to have her here and support the 3Day for her, for all the other survivors and for those who have lost their fight to this dreaded disease . We must find a cure! Thank you for all you do to support breast cancer research. http://www.the3day.org/goto/Julie.Vreones
My name is Staci Shaw and this is my first year walking the 3 Day with Team W.I.S.H. I am walking in memory of my husbands' Aunt, Lisa Dalton, who passed away July 17, 2009. She fought a courageous five year battle and was an inspiration to everyone who knew her. I also walk for my two beautiful daughters, Kayleigh and Ashlynne, as well as Lisa's two granddaughters and all of the beautiful girls/women in our family and our friends. I walk because we need a cure. Please help me raise funds for the Susan G. Komen 3Day, thank you! http://www.the3day.org/goto/StaciShaw4MyGirls
My name is Fran Kesselman and in 2002 I walked the New York 3-Day with my 2 daughters and my husband crewed the event. I am happy to be walking this year in the AZ 3 Day with Team W.I.S.H. I'm walking with the hope that one day soon a cure will be found so my daughters, granddaughters and all women will never have to experience this disease. I wam walking for 3 of my friends who have fought this disease with courage and are survivors and in spirit for those who have lost their courageous battle.
My name is Vicki Landis-Jensen and I am proud to say I am a member of Team W.I.S.H. Arizona. I walk because I can. I walk because I am a 5-year breast cancer survivor! I am walking for my children so they will not have to experience this disease. I want to do something that matters, so I walk to honor all of the families who have lost loved one to this disease and for those lives we can save. Step-by-step, I will make a difference. So when you ready my story and all of my teammates' stories, remember we are doing it all for you! Maybe one dollar at a time, but we'll get there. The Breast Cancer 3-Day is an amazing experience. If you ever have the chance to walk or help-out by volunteering, you will never forget the faces you see and the stories they tell. Let's have a future without breast cancer! http://www.the3day.org/goto/Vicki.Landis-Jensen
My name is Paul Towne and this is my first year on Team W.I.S.H. On December 26, 1988 I lost the most important person in my life, my mother to breast cancer. During her five year battle with the disease I watched helplessly as she endured the emotionally ups and downs of her fight. The tremendous pain she suffered through at the end and my own selfish feeling of loss when she finally succumbed to this horrid disease, which forever be burned into my soul. I walk t continue the fight in her honor and memory.
After both my children, within six years, were diagnosed with cancer; my son at 26 yrs old in 2002 and my daughter with breast cancer in 2008 at 36 years old, I decided to join Team W.I.S.H. No one in our family had ever had breast cancer and feeling at a lost as to where to begin, Heather remembered hearing about Team W.I.S.H. She reached out to them and they were there to help in anyway they could. No man, woman or child should have to every tell someone they love, "I have cancer." Having to watch a loved one,let along your children endure the numerous surgeries, chemotherapy, days of being too sick to get out of bed, is emotionally devastating to everyone in the family. I'm blessed to say both my children are still cancer free. I walk with the hope a cure is found, so children and grandchildren in the future might NEVER have to hear 'you have breast cancer.' I am Linda Reidinger, this is my 3rd year on the team and I am proud to walk with my daughter, Heather Toplak and my son-in-law, Rich Toplak.
My name is Lynne Shaw and I am new to Team W.I.S.H. this year and I am very excited to walk my first AZ 3Day. 
I'm walking in memory of my sister, Lisa Dalton. Lisa passed away July 17, 2009 after a 5 year battle with breast cancer.
My name is Suzette Melton and I started walking about 5 years ago in support of our friend Lisa! I also have a daughter whom I hope will NEVER have to deal with breast cancer. I walk for those who can not!
My name is Holly Baker 
and 2010 will be my third AZ 3-Day Walk plus I am going to walk in 3- 3Day walks across the country. There is a song about why we walk and I reflect on its words and meaning every time I hear it. "I walk to remember...I walk to remember and honor those who have not survived breast cancer." "I walk to celebrate...to celebrate those who have conquered and those who continue their journey." I also celebrate my teammates who walk shoulder to shoulder with me. I also walk in hope and strength to push on in finding a cure. Every time I walk the 3Day and see the streets lined with cheering stations, filled with those who are there to say thank you, support us and hope for a cure, it re-confirms my feelings that I am doing a small part in something that is special and meaningful...and someday...successful. I walk because I CAN. I walk so my daughters and future generations won't have to.
My name is Sara Yu and I walk for my little gem, Maddy... 
I don't want her to face the possibilities of this disease. I walk because I can when there are others who cannot. I walk, because these crazy bunch of men and women on Team W.I.S.H. inspire me all day long...and the walk, the trainings, the friendships, the stories...are a hell of a party I choose not to miss! 
I am walking to celebrate my 11 years of being breast cancer free, in memory of those who have lost their battle with breast cancer and honoring those who are presently battling this dreadful disease. I am looking forward to working with members of the team to fundraise this year as we will surpass the $1 million mark since the inception of Team W.I.S.H. Arizona in 2004. (Linda Kacmarksy is one of the co-founders of the team.)
My name is Dyanne Mogan 
and I am a member of Team W.I.S.H. I am walking because I can. I am walking for those men and women who cannot. I am walking for those dear to me - friends, family and classmates - those who have lost their courageous battle with cancer. As Susan G. Komen for the Cure explains, of the 200,000 American women diagnosed with cancer this year, approximately 40,000 will die. This is my motivation for joining Team W.I.S.H. and for walking so far. I am walking in the hope that together we will find a cure and for those individuals who, despite enduring the agony of breast cancer, demonstrate an awesome spirt and faith in the belief that one day we will end breast cancer forever. At the age of thirteen, a tragic car accident claimed the life of my 21 year old sister and left me crippled for two years. If my sister were here, she would walk with me. Therefore, because I can walk I will do so with my sister in my heart and mind and for those who cannot.
My name is Carol Stacy and this year I will 'crew' the AZ 3Day and walk 5th walk in San Diego. I had always wanted to do the 60 mile walk and for such a great cause and also because I had a girlfriend who had been fighting this crappy cancer for over 8 years. The second year of the walk, she passed away. The next year a daughter, of one of our team members lost her battle. The longer I'm involved in this fight, it has become more apparent that we need to continue to raise funds to find a cure. For a while I wondered why after 25 years that Susan G. Komen has been around, a cure had not been found. But then it happened, another girl on our team got breast cancer but because the technology, drugs and other natural means were there to help her and give her a clear bill of health...we are doing the right thing and it is paying off. I will maintain my faith that we will find a cure, continue to discover new and develop new procedures... so I'm in for the fight! I don't want my daughter nor my beautiful granddaughter, Sara, 
to ever, ever have to go through what so many women and men are going through. If this is my purpose in life... then the road I travel is with thousands and thousands of others who feel the same way. I hope as you read 'why I walk' , their words will inspire you to join our challenge! Be safe and remember....fight for a cure! Please help me raise funds for the Susan G. Komen AZ 3Day @ http://www.the3day.org/goto/carolstacy2010 or the Susan G. Komen San Diego 3Day http://www.the3day.org/goto/carolstacysandiego
My name is Ellen Wagner and I walk because we NEED to find a CURE!!! This is not an option, it is a MUST!! With over 40,000 women and men, dying each year of breast cancer, we all need to do what we can to find a CURE!! I can help by walking.
I am Julia Hernandez 
and I moved to Arizona from Washington in February 2007 to be closer to my mom because she was diagnosed with gynecological cancer. I knew that if this disease took her, my girls would not get that birthday, Christmas and other times to make memories with my mom. My mom is cancer free now, checking every 3 months still for the same enduring news. So, I walk because it was the only thing left for me to do...I couldn't dry anymore tears or sit in a laboratory looking for a cure. I know if we can cure one cancer, we can cure others. This walk was my time to reflect and gather with like-minded men and women that felt what I felt...without having to say anything. http://www.the3day.org/goto/JuliaccHernandez
My name is Heather Toplak...when you are unsure of what the future holds, look into the eyes of a child. they hold the key to strength, determination and the ability to combat unknown fear. They hold the wishes for today and the dreams for tomorrow. In February 2008, my husband and I planned to join the 3Day crew team. A diagnosis of breast cancer changed our lives overnight. I underwent a double mastectomy, six rounds of chemotherapy, reconstructive surgery and two follow-up surgeries. Depression followed. Not exactly how I wanted to spend nine months of my life. While I was fighting, my husband was training and he walked the 2008 Breast Cancer 3 Day. I met him at the finish line and in 2009 I walked with my husband and my mother! I have lost dear friends and family to the disease. They will be my angels guiding me. I have friends still enduring treatments. 
They are my hope. I have a daughter and I am going to be here to watch generations grow. They should never have put a face to the word breast cancer...we must find a cure!
I am Rich Toplak 
and I walk because in 2002 I lost my mother to breast cancer and in 2007 my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer but is now 'cancer free!' But most of all in 2008, my soul mate, Heather was diagnosed with breast cancer and now I'm happy to say, she is breast cancer free! I also walk so no one will ever have to hear 'I am sorry it is cancer.' I wish to help beat this awful disease.
