Walk For Life benefits breast cancer patients
Social worker Gretchen Matsuoka (left) talks with Jennette Chase, who will participate in the the annual Walk for Life event on Oct* 14
The walk benefits local women battling breast cancer, providing services like child care and housecleaning.
■ The Willamette Valley
Cancer Center and local
Soroptimists plan an annual
fundraising event in Eugene
By Rebecca Newell
Oregon Daily Emerald
For cancer patient Jennette
Chase, mother of five, the Walk For
Life fund offered not only financial
help, but a support system.
“They’ve helped me with sup
port, paying the bills along the
way, helping me with things we
needed when I wasn’t able to
work,” Chase said. “The organiza
tion is great and it would be a
shame if something happened to it,
because there are a lot of people
who depend on it. They’re right
there if you need them.”
Local Soroptimists and mem
bers of the Willamette Valley Can
cer Center gathered Sept. 29 to
kick off National Breast Cancer
Awareness Month.
Soroptimist International is the
world’s largest classified service
organization for executive and pro
fessional women, with over
100,000 members in 112 countries.
Soroptimists have raised over
$100,000 to assist local women
since founding the walk in 1993.
The highlight of the month is the
Oct. 14 Walk For Life, the seventh
annual fundraiser sponsored by
the WVCC and the Eugene, Spring
field and Junction City Soroptimist
branches.
“We sponsor the walk and set up
the fund at Sacred Heart,” said Vic
ki Simrell, chairwoman for the
Walk For Life 2000. “Social work
ers administer the fund to women
who have been breast cancer or re
productive cancer patients and
whose insurance doesn’t cover it
or other costs of living.”
Walk For Life funds are distrib
uted to single mothers and women
in Lane County who aren’t eligible
for the Oregon Health Plan or Med
icaid. Funds are distributed as per
sonal emergency grants to pay for
child care, uninsured medical
treatment or grief counseling. The
fund also provides rides to treat
ment, help with housework and
grocery shopping.
“The Soroptimists have helped
me keep up my health insurance
since I’ve been off work,” said Lin
da Painter, a cancer patient and
former Sacred Heart employee.
“Several contributions from the
Walk For Life have come directly
from Sacred Heart specifically for
me. The hospital had a pop and
pizza feed to raise money for me
after I was first diagnosed.”
The three-mile-long walk begins
at 10 a.m. at the Eugene Water and
Electric Board Oct. 14. The cost is
$20 per person and includes the
entry fee for the walk and a sweat
shirt. “Our goal is to raise
$25,000,” Simrell said.’ “We just
want everyone there. It’s a real fes
tive event. The more walkers, the
more festive it is.”
Teams of walkers from compa
nies or organizations — containing
a minimum of five walkers — can
participate for $100. Each team re
ceives a sign displaying their name
for the duration of the walk. Dona
tions can be brought to the event or
sent to Walk For Life, SI-Eugene,
P.O. Box 10664, Eugene, 97440.
For more information, call 343
0737.
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