TAMPA, Fla. — Roughly 30,000 walkers, many dressed in pink, turned out at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Saturday for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk, and the Tampa Bay event pushed past $1 million for cancer research.
The morning event ran from 7 to 11:30 a.m. at the stadium and was free and open to the public, with no pre-registration needed, according to the city’s special events listing. The walk was one of the city’s fundraising and charity events tied to Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The American Cancer Society organizes the Making Strides series and puts on more than 150 of the walks across the country during October. Crossing the million-dollar mark this year moved the Tampa Bay walk into the top five nationally, organizers said.
A leader with the society’s Tampa Bay office described the crowd’s energy as the fuel for the group’s year-round work, and said staff see the results of the research and support programs every day.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, and more than 2 million women worldwide are diagnosed with it each year. Survivors walked alongside family members, friends and teams, with many saying they came both to celebrate their own recovery and to remember people who did not survive the disease.
Money raised through the walk goes to the American Cancer Society’s research and patient support programs. People who missed Saturday’s event can still donate through the Making Strides Tampa Bay page or find breast cancer resources from the society.
Filed under: Tampa FL Health News
