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.
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.
“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.
“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.