A group of Westchester women raised over $21,400 for the 2012 Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in New York City this October. The nine 20-somehtings trained for several months prior to the event in order to accomplish the difficult feat of walking 39.3 miles, over two days, across New York City.
Their team, “These Boobs are made for Walking,” includes Katie Brilla of Valhalla, Cara Kopatz Higle of Tarrytown, Shannon McCluskey Pompilio and Monica Palma of Pleasantville, Brett Stenger, Patricia DiCanto Fluehr, Tiffany Nienstedt, Rachel Pote and Jessica Wexler. Some of the women forged friendships in high school and college.
This isn’t the group’s first time participating in the cause, they also walked in 2010, and they plan on continuing the tradition.
According to team member Monica Palma, this year they walked in honor of Stenger’s mother. Palma said that when they walked for the first time two years ago, in October 2010, it was in honor of Brilla’s mother, who passed away when Brilla was in high school. Palma added that another teammate’s mother is a survivor.
The route brought walkers through Manhattan’s most well known neighborhoods including Chelsea, Greenwich, and Soho. On Saturday morning, the Opening Ceremony took place at Hudson River Park’s Pier 84. From there, participants headed uptown, looped back downtown and journeyed across the Brooklyn Bridge into the DUMBO area of Brooklyn. Then they headed back into Manhattan and to Avon’s Wellness Village at Randall’s Island, where they spent the night camping out in two-person tents. On Sunday, the walk concluded back at Pier 84 with a Closing Ceremony.
Avon Walk for Breast Cancer Program Director Eloise Caggiano said the New York Walk is special for a number of reasons.
“I love New York. And the Avon Walk New York is simply incredible. It’s our biggest Walk of the season and an extra exciting one since NYC is Avon’s hometown, and my hometown, so I feel a special connection to our Walk in the Big Apple,” Caggiano said.
The women of “These Boobs are made for Walking” surpassed their fundraising goal of $16,200. Almost every member surpassed her individual goal of $1,800. In hindsight, the women said they had an amazing weekend and were thankful for all of their friends and supporters that helped them achieve their goal.
And what would a gathering among female friends be without a little fashion? This year, in addition to their pink and black team t-shirts, the team added pink ballet tutus to their Walk ensemble.
“The tutus we did this year for the first time and since they were a big hit, we are already planning to do it again next time,” Palma said.
