On October 16, 2009 our team of four women will be participating in The Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk in Philadelphia.  The Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk is a three day, 60 mile walk that raises money for breast cancer research.  Our team has the opportunity to blog our thoughts and experiences throughout our journey.  Each week one "mama" will be writing about her experiences leading up to the walk.  We call ourselves "Mamas with a Mission", and I am Mama 4.

Here I sit less than two weeks away from what I have been preparing for for over one year.....I'm not sure I'm physically ready, but I know I'm mentally ready.  As I have mentioned before, I had the opportunity and great privilege to complete The 3-Day two years ago with a team of my sorority sisters from Millersville University.  It was a life changing event, and I know that I am going to get so much more from the experience this time as well.  I am excited to experience every little bit of the three day walk as I did before (blisters, sore muscles and all!).  I am excited to watch my three very good friends experience this amazing journey for the first time.  And, I'm excited to see if my 32 year old body can do this again!

As our team gets closer and closer to the walk, we are consumed with whether we have all of our money raised (which we do, and we reached our $10,000 goal as well!), do we have all the supplies we will need, do we have the "right" sneakers, are we physicallly ready, etc, etc.  What I have to continue to remind myself is that this walk isn't about US.  It's about the thousands and thousands of families who have been affected, are being affected, and will be affected by this terrible disease. 

During the next two weeks as I continue to prepare for the walk, I will need to make sure that I continue to walk and prepare my body.  I will need to make sure that I have all of the supplies that I will need for the three days (rain or shine).  And, I will need to make sure that our team is organized and ready to go.

This has been an amazing year of raising money, spreading the word about The Breast Cancer 3-Day, training for the 60 miles, and becoming closer with three amazing moms who I am lucky enough to complete this walk with in two weeks.  I'm proud of myself, and I am proud of my team of four "mamas" from Lancaster.....we have achieved so much, and it is not over yet.

Here I come 60 miles!  I'm not sure I'm ready for you, but I'm determined to make this another experience to remember.  And, I'm determined to cross the finish line on the third day looking for my two little girls in the crowd, hoping and praying that they never have to walk in The 3-Day when they are older.

On October 16, 2009 our team of four women will be participating in The Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk in Philadelphia.  The Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk is a three day, 60 mile walk that raises money for breast cancer research.  Our team has the opportunity to blog our thoughts and experiences throughout our journey.  Each week one "mama" will be writing about her experiences leading up to the walk.  We call ourselves "Mamas with a Mission", and I am Mama 4.

As I mentioned in my first blog, I am Mama 4 and the captain of our wonderful team.  I want to use this blog to recap our So Long to Summer Fling that we had on August 22 at the Millersville VFW.  It was an amazing night which brought in almost $4500!!!  This great evening helped our team reach our $10,000 goal!  We couldn't have asked for more, especially since it was our first year organizing such a large fundraiser.

The night consisted of dancing, drinks, food, a Chinese Auction, a washers tournament, and a head-shaving contest!  We had a little bit of everything.

We were blessed to find a great DJ, Scott Powell, who was nice enough to give us a discounted rate for the evening.  He did a great job, and he got everyone up dancing throughout the night. 

We worked hard at finding local vendors who would be willing to donate food for the evening's event.   Bakeries, grocery stores, and restaurants throughout Lancaster County were kind enough to donate some wonderful food.  A Loaf of Bread, The Cake Creator, Cravings Deli, Wendy Jo's Cookies, Weis Market, Giant, and Darrenkamps were just a few places who generously donated food.

We also had an amazing Chinese Auction set up for everyone who attended.  We had over 75 items donated to our Chinese Auction.  Everything from gift certificates to local restaurants, car washes, golf courses, and hair salons to hot air balloon rides and weekends in Ocean City, NJ were up for auction.  Our biggest item was a 3-month, family of four membership to Universal Gym in Manheim Township.  It was a $700 value, and helped us raise a lot of money.

We also had a washers tournament set up on one side of the room.  Teams of two signed up for the competition, and the winners and runners-up all received prizes.  Everyone who played had a great time!

The most fun of the evening came from a competition between our four husbands.  The four men had to see who could raise the most money during the evening.  Whoever raised the most had to shave his hair right there at the dance!  What a great idea, and what a great way to signify what some women have to go through during their battle with breast cancer.

I consider myself truly blessed to be on a team of such hardworking women...it takes a lot to pull off an event like this, especially when there are only 4 of you!  Everyone who came that evening told us how much fun they had and what a great event it was.  Someone even mentioned to me that we need to be prepared to do this every year!  What great compliments to receive.

Thank you to everyone who made this such a wonderful evening.  Whether you came to the event, donated something to the evening or helped pull the entire event off - we should all be proud of raising $4500 for such a great cause.  Now, onto preparing for the 60-mile journey in October.

Over the next few months our team of four women will be blogging about our experiences in training and preparing for The Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk.  The Breast Cancer 3-Day is a three day, 60 mile walk, and we will be walking in Philadelphia this coming October.  Each week leading up to the walk, one "Mama" from our team will be writing about her experiences through this incredible journey.  We call ourselves "Mamas with a Mission" and I am Mama 4!

I am the captain of our team, and I am also the only participant who has done the walk before.  I was supposed to walk the 3-Day in September of 2005 with 12 of my sorority sisters from Millersville University.  We worked very hard raising money for the event and spreading the word about The Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk (In 2005, no one had ever heard of this event).  Unfortunately, I was unable to participate in the actual walk because I found out I was pregnant with my second child shortly before the walk took place.  I was very disappointed to not be able to participate in the actual event, because I had put so much time and effort into the entire process!

Two years later in 2007, the team decided to do the walk again.  This time I was able to participate again and I actually completed the walk with my team!  What an amazing experience!  It is a truly life changing event, and it is something that has changed my life forever.  To not only know that I raised money to help women who are battling cancer, to honor women who have fought the battle, and to hopefully prevent women from needing to walk in the future was beyond words.

True, it was a physically demanding three days.  But, the emotional joy and rewards that I received made the blisters, sore muscles, and tired feet all worth it.  Walking the streets of Philadelphia, we had the opportunity to pass children on the playgrounds of various schools who made posters to cheer us on.  We heard applause around every corner thanking us for what we were doing.  I received hugs from women standing on sidewalks, scarves wrapped around their heads to hide their bald scalps, crying and thanking us for what we were doing for them.  I met husbands and children who had lost their wives and mothers to breast cancer.  How could I complain about a sore muscle or a blister that needed a band-aid?

So, this is how "Mamas with a Mission" came to be.  After walking in 2007, I wanted to start a group of strong, determined, and motivated mothers in Lancaster who wanted to help me spread the word about prevention, finding a cure, and fighting this awful disease.  We are determined to meet our goal of $10,000 by October.  And, I cannot wait for my fellow "Mamas" to have the experience of a lifetime like I did two years ago.

This is why I walk.....because I can't turn my back on all of the women, men, mothers, fathers, and children who are affected by this disease every day.  They may not be standing on every street corner screaming their story, but they are out there every day trying to survive. 

To find out more about The Breast Cancer 3-Day and how you can help, go to www.the3day.org