"Breast Friends Forever" Will Walk for the Cure in San Francisco

A local team will walk 60 miles this fall to raise awareness and help find a cure for breast cancer.

Members of "Team Breast Friends Forever," Laurie Roberts, Deena Lawrence and Michelle Millard-Naylor, will complete the three-day Susan G. Komen Walk from Oct. 1 to 3, along with Patricia Lewis, Roosevelt McKindley and Kris Veldheer. All members of the group are from Albany except Lewis, of Napa, and McKindley, of Richmond.

The National Cancer Institute estimates that approximately 13 percent of women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lives. The Susan G. Komen Walk for the Cure has donated nearly $1.5 billion toward breast cancer research since its inception in 1982, with most of its money raised through three-day walks around the country.  

Three members of the group will be walking together for the second time.

Roberts, Lawrence and Millard-Naylor met at the Opal Staniek Tot Lot, on the corner of Talbot Avenue and Dartmouth Street, about seven years ago. Watching their two-year-old children play in the park, they began to talk and a deeper friendship soon grew.

Now, their children are 9 years old, about to enter fourth grade at Cornell Elementary School, and the friends have teamed up, again, in the fight against breast cancer. 

Each woman has her own reasons for participating.

"Doing this walk, and seeing the sea of pink all around, it seems possible that anything is possible," said Millard-Naylor, 44, who will be a teacher at Ocean View Elementary this fall. "If we find a cure for breast cancer, it could shed light on eradicating other forms of cancer too."

Millard-Naylor's aunt is a six-year breast cancer survivor. She said she's also walking for a friend who died from pancreatic cancer at 33.

Roberts, 41, who works for the West Contra Costa School District, is walking in memory of two high school friends she lost to cancer. One friend had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease as a teenager. She became cancer-free for a time, but later was later diagnosed with breast cancer. Recurring cancer like this is quite common, Roberts said.

Roberts is also walking for a friend who just finished treatment, as well as for future generations. Her niece was diagnosed with liver cancer at 4 months old. She said she hopes, by the time her niece grows up, breast cancer will be much less common than it is today.

The team recently started training for the event, which will take place in San Francisco. They meet at 5:10 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays to walk before work. They schedule longer walks, typically 15 miles, on weekends.

Roberts has already done the Komen walk twice. She flew to San Diego for her first one in 2006, then convinced her friends to join her in 2008 in San Francisco.

Lawrence, who works at a pharmacy in Kensington, said initially she was intimidated, not by the 60 miles she'd have to walk, but by the fundraising part of the event. Walkers need to raise at least $2,300 to participate, and the 41-year-old said she wasn't comfortable asking people for money.

But, so far this year, she's managed to raise the most money on her team, using a free weekend getaway package to Calistoga, CA, among other fundraising tactics, to draw in donations.

To raise additional money, the team will throw a party in the upcoming months called the "Breast Friends Bash" where they will hold a silent auction and raffle. Roberts said the group is looking for local restaurants that would like to donate food and drink for the event.

Humor and fun are a big part of the Komen walk, as the group's name would suggest. Supporters called "walker stalkers," who include breast cancer survivors and those who are still battling the disease, come to watch and cheer on participants. One notable group, which goes by the name "Hookers for Hooters," drives around in a red convertible and dresses up in racy clothing.

Roberts, Millard-Naylor and Lawrence described the 2008 walk as well organized, with pit stops every few miles stocked with drinks, food and bathrooms. Many stops have their own themes, such as the Wizard of Oz, where Team Breast Friends Forever stopped to be photographed with "Glinda the Good Witch."

"They give you pink tents to sleep in, and someone meets you to set the tent up for you, knowing how tired you are after walking 20 miles. They even cook for you and provide entertainment at night," Roberts said. "After working hard to train and fundraise for the walk, the actual event is like a vacation."

Team Breast Friends Forever welcomes additional members to their walking crew, monetary donations, gifts to be raffled at the benefit party and any other support. You can follow the group at Twitter (@3dayteambff) or e-mail them for more information at 3dayteambff@gmail.com. See their team page here.