Rowing Strides for Breast Cancer Awareness
October 29, 2014 05:14 PM | General
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| Members of the novice rowing squad passed out bottled water to the participants at the annual Breast Cancer Walk at Hazel Ruby McQuain Park. |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The fight to end breast cancer starts with a single step, or in this case, a single row. For its fifth straight year, the West Virginia University novice rowing squad volunteered for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer (MSABC) at the annual Breast Cancer Walk at Hazel Ruby McQuain Park on Oct. 25th.
The event consisted of a non-competitive 5K (3.1 miles), and was an incredible opportunity for the community to become one and honor breast cancer survivors, raise awareness in order to reduce the risk of breast cancer and raise money to help the American Cancer Society fight the disease with breast cancer research.
“I believe anything we do in the community shows that as a team we care about our town and the people in and around Morgantown, but it is exemplified with an organization like Making Strides for WV,” said assistant coach Amanda Merritt. “The group is able to reach out and help many women and their families. They can support and aid them financially in ways that we as a team can not do alone, so it is great that we as a group of women are able to help MSABC assist other women.”
The novice squad arrived at the event at 6:45 a.m. to help map out the course. The squad stayed throughout the walk and passed out water as well as motivated the participants throughout the 3.1 mile event.
“It is always great to help with these types of community events because I am not from Morgantown. It was nice to reach out and meet people and hear their stories,” said sophomore Sarah Mitchell.
A native of Somerset, Pennsylvania, Mitchell holds the month of October near and dear to her heart. As a former high school volleyball player, her alma mater participated in an annual Dig Pink Game in which they donated all the funds to the Somerset Oncology Center every year.
“One of my high school English teachers had breast cancer, so it is really nice to see how these fundraisers continue to help change the life of someone close to me,” Mitchell said. “I played volleyball with her daughter, and we stuck together as a team and put on these types of events for her, as well as the other people in the community that are affected by breast cancer.”
A native of Columbus, Ohio, freshman Jacqueline Spiropoulos has seen a lot of people throughout her life overcome breast cancer, including her grandmother, a survivor of three years.
“My grandma has been a survivor for three years now, and the positive attitude that she reflects is so heartwarming to others. It’s nice to see other survivors at the walk with that same energy and attitude,” Spiropoulos said. “The overall event was fantastic, and it was just a great celebration and a nice way to represent the issue at hand.”
The walk had over 400 participants and raised $36,607.57, and even though October is known for breast cancer awareness month, it is something that should hold focus and support year Around. These events have helped change the lives of others, and the WVU rowing squad was proud to take part in one step of the race.
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