Can’t Make Rays of Hope Walk? Be a 10,000 Stepper

SPRINGFIELD — Did you know you can still participate in the 16th annual Rays of Hope – A Walk Toward the Cure of Breast Cancer — which will step off from Forest Park in Springfield and Energy Park in Greefield on Oct. 25 — even if you have other commitments preventing you from attending?

The 10,000 Steps Toward a Cure program provides a unique opportunity for individual walkers or team members who cannot attend the Rays of Hope Walk to participate as “steppers” during the entire month of October, which is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Walking 10,000 steps is roughly equivalent to walking five miles.

It’s Elena Langdon’s first year as a 10,000 Stepper. In addition to stepping out at home, at work, and around town while shopping, Langdon will also be at the Springfield Walk. “I thought it would be something extra to do, something more regular not only to remind me of the cause to cure breast cancer, but as a way to stay healthy,” she said.

As a 10,000 Stepper, participants walk whenever and wherever they choose by making up their own walk route — for example, while grocery shopping, taking the dog for a walk around the block, or walking down their driveway to the mailbox.

Each 10,000 Stepper receives a Rays of Hope information packet containing a pedometer to keep track of their steps in October, as well as stickers to wear proclaiming they are “taking steps toward a cure of breast cancer.”

Also, for those who live out of the area but who want to walk in honor of or in memory of someone from Western Mass., the 10,000 Steps Toward a Cure program provides a meaningful way for them to participate.

Steppers can register online by visiting www.baystatehealth.com/raysofhope and clicking on “Register Today!” Once registered as a 10,000 Stepper, a personal Web page can be created which family and friends can visit to donate securely online. A 10,000 Stepper can also register by calling the Rays of Hope office at (413) 794-8001.

By using the easy tools provided on their personal Web page, 10,000 Steppers can send e-mails to friends and family, locally or across the country, asking them for support in their effort to raise funds for Rays of Hope.

“My mom lives in Brazil, so it’s perfect,” said Langdon about the use of e-mails directing potential donors to her Web site.

“I was surprised at how many people contributed last year, many former colleagues and professors of mine,” added both the stepper and walker, who quickly put a team together called the BMC Terps shortly after joining Baystate Medical Center last August as a supervisor in Interpreter and Translation Services.

Last year’s walk through Forest Park raised more than $812,000 to fund breast cancer programs and services for breast cancer patients and survivors, research, and state-of-the art equipment at Baystate Regional Cancer Program’s Comprehensive Breast Center, as well as breast cancer care at Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, Baystate Mary Lane Hospital in Ware, and various community projects and organizations such as the Cancer Connection and Cancer House of Hope.

“All of the funds raised by the Walk stay right here in our communities and make an impact on our own friends and neighbors,” said Carol Baribeau, chair of Rays of Hope.

Baystate Regional Cancer Program’s Comprehensive Breast Center is a unique interdisciplinary program incorporating Baystate Medical Center staff physicians and community physicians. Under the medical direction of Dr. Grace Makari-Judson, the program offers routine mammography services, as well as diagnostic mammography and core biopsy, diagnostic evaluations, multidisciplinary consultation, high-risk screening, education and outreach services, and support services. The center also supports community education and treatment programs at Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield and Baystate Mary Lane Hospital in Ware.

This year, the Springfield and new Greenfield Walk will both step off at 10:30 a.m., in Springfield beginning at Temple Beth El on Dickinson Street and in Greenfield at Energy Park on Miles Street. Registration is 9 a.m. Walkers can choose a two- or five-mile walk in Springfield or a two- or three-mile walk in Greenfield.

Rays of Hope, the most successful fund-raising walk in Western Mass. for breast cancer, has raised nearly $7.4 million over the past 15 years. This year’s walk is presented by Health New England and with major sponsorships from Chicopee Savings Charitable Foundation, Balise Motor Sales, and Radiology and Imaging Inc., as well as other community businesses.