By KATELYN DOHERTY
Contributing Writer
On a crisp cool September morning, hundreds of walkers, runners and supporters gathered in Washington Park in Albany to support the 12th annual Teal Ribbon Walk on Sunday, which supports ovarian cancer research.
The Teal Ribbon Walk drew in thousands of dollars, including over $1,000 raised by The College of Saint Rose Teal Ribbon Walkers. The Saint Rose Teal Ribbon Walkers also took first place for the “team with the most walkers.” Signs of loved ones and T-shirts filled the park while those in attendance tried to keep smiles on their faces as much as they possibly could.
Participating in this walk really is an amazing experience for many people, as many walkers and runners discussed. It not only helped raise awareness and raise money for ovarian cancer research, but also allowed everyone who attended to come together as a community.
Amongst the various teams and individuals who participated in the walk/run was The Saint Rose Teal Ribbon Walkers, lead by English 114 Professor Marcie Newton and Mascot Chewy, the chocolate lab. English 114 students participate in this walk in conjunction to studying the play Wit by Margaret Edison, which is about an English professor who experiences the struggle of living and undergoing treatments of ovarian cancer.
Students who participated in the walk had the opportunity to participate in service learning and understand how important it is to raise awareness for this cause. Many people do not understand how many lives ovarian cancer, also known as the cancer that whispers, it takes each year. It has only been in recent years that ovarian cancer has received any real attention and yet this year alone, it has taken the lives of approximately 22,000 women, according to Ovarian Cancer National Alliance.
Freshman student Michele Tesoro considered the walk “a real eye-opener.” She did not know much about this cause until studying the play in class and coming to this walk really gave her a new perspective on this specific disease and how important the research for it was. It was her first time participating in this event, and she felt as if it was something she would continue to do in years to come.
Not only did Newton’s class walk in high spirits, but everyone else who participated. There were hundreds of people attending the walk to help promote awareness for this cause. It is so important that people are aware of this sinister disease.
Andrea Annese-Como, a local woman from the Albany area in her mid-fourties, one of the board members of Caring Together Inc., started her own team Lucky to raise awareness. Many members of her team participated in both the 5K run and one mile walk. Annese-Como and her group participate in this walk each year to raise money to combat ovarian cancer, a disease she has so far survived seven years after she was diagnosed.
She said that with her “gift of health [she] decided to raise awareness and give back to the community about the symptoms which a lot of people don’t know.”
Although some people are able to receive enough treatment and overcome this horrific disease, other people are not lucky enough to make it through treatments and survive. Runner participant Kyle Mahar, another local from the Albany area, ran for the second time in memory of his friend Amanda’s mother, Mary Beth Jevitt. He said that it’s “a good cause to get everyone together for a unified thing” and “the more people know about it the easier it is to get support.” He understands how important it is to raise money for this specific cause.
Overall, this walk creates such an impact in the community for not only survivors and victims of ovarian cancer but also anyone else who just wants to get involved in supporting it. Each year there is a growing number of attendees, which makes it so successful. Newton, after doing this walk for three years now, knows how much of an impact it has on people.
As there have been many changes throughout the years, Newton said that, “what hasn’t changed is the strong presence of love and community at this event.”
