With October’s message of breast cancer awareness still in mind, teachers and other members of the Dons community continued to exhibit their support in November by participating in the Susan G. Komen walks.

Cathedral Catholic American sign language teacher Mr. Dano Kaufmann, who has participated in the 3-Day Walk for the Cure for four years, will embark on the 60-mile charity walk this Friday.

“You’re crying, you’re smiling, you’re laughing and you smell…It’s that smell of victory,” said Kaufmann as he described the euphoric moment when a wave of pink flooded Petco Park as thousands of walkers reached the finish line of San Diego’s 3-Day Susan G. Komen’s Walk for the Cure.

According to komensandiego.org, the Susan G. Komen organization was created in 1995 by Nancy G. Brinker, honoring Susan, her sister who lost her life to the disease. Since then, around seven million dollars have been fundraised for breast cancer programs and research. Seventy-five percent of the profits generated from the Race for the Cure, and the 3-Day Walk for the Cure, will go back to San Diego programs, while the other twenty-five percent will proceed to the Susan G. Komen nonprofit.

After raising $2,300 in order to participate, Mr. Kaufmann and his team, “The Hakuna Ma-Tatas”, will walk twenty miles each day, traversing all over the coast of south county, from La Jolla to Ocean Beach.

“I walk because I can,” said Mr. Kaufmann. “I walk for my Dad who had cancer twice, I walk for my Grandmother, for my aunt, for my friends.”

He said he felt the desire to participate after watching the event’s closing ceremony a few years back. He remembers gazing upon the thousands of individuals in the arena, each person removing a shoe and thrusting it up towards the sky triumphantly. “Seeing all these shoes, and knowing how much time and effort went into it, I was so touched,” said Kaufmann.

Reflecting on her experience with breast cancer, art teacher Silvia Wiedmann said, “It shakes you up, it definitely changes your life. It makes you more aware of the little things, like enjoying the little things. I know it sounds kinda clichéd, but it does.”

First learning she had breast cancer three and a half years ago, Mrs. Wiedmann now volunteers each year at the Susan G. Komen’s Race for the Cure. Unlike the 3-Day Walk for the Cure, this event is a shorter, five kilometer and one-day race held in Balboa Park. This year, the race occurred on November 7^th.

“It’s very emotional. You see people crying, and celebrating,” said Mrs. Wiedmann, who has the opportunity each year to eat breakfast and share stories in the race’s special “survivors only” tent.

Regarding the 3-Day event, Mr. Kaufmann said, “I cry over the course of three days more than in the whole year.” According to Dano, one of his most poignant memories was seeing a “survivor” tent singly illuminated in the darkness while camping out one night. “Everything else was dark, except this one, shining beacon of a tent,” he said.

The special tent was covered in personal messages, pictures, and even handprints, honoring loved ones. Mr. Kaufmann said, “When you walk up to it, you can see all the handprints and written expressions like  ‘To my grandmother I’m sorry you’re not here’ and ‘To my mother, I love you.’”

Cancer support group leader and mother of a Uni alum, Mrs. Lynn Flanagan believes that, despite the tremendous popularity of breast cancer support and research the other key to finding a “cure” is education.

“It’s all well and good to wear pink, and it’s all well and good to write a check to research entities, but if we don’t combine it with education, we will not win our fight against breast cancer,” she said.

Last week, Mrs. Flanagan came to CCHS to deliver a presentation titled “Breast Health Awareness” for girls in physical education classes. “Rather than just doing presentations for adult women about this disease, as a Mom who has a daughter, I think an outreach for the youth is really important,” said Lynn, who has spoken about early detection at USDHS/CCHS for seven years.

Explaining what the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 “breast cancer” genes are, debunking infamous “cancer myths”, and showing what cancerous tissue looks like in mammograms, Flanagan expands on the basics of the disease, always emphasizing the role  of self-awareness.

At the start of each presentation, she reads the names of her six “angels”, commemorating her close friends who lost their battles to the disease. A survivor of 14 years, Mrs. Flanagan said, “I think it has really changed my life. It’s initially terrifying, but then you realize that God has a different plan for you. It has definitely allowed me to have a different approach to priorities in my life – my faith, and my relationships with family and friends are so much deeper.”

Kaufmann’s support site for the 3-Day Walk can be found at http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/2010/SanDiegoEvent2010?px=3063577&pg=personal&fr_id=1469. To find more information about the walks, and the Susan G. Komen organization, visit komensandiego.org, and cancernavigator.org.