Despite coming from a family with a strong history of breast cancer, and thinking she had “a front row seat to it,” Shannon Barrett was not prepared to hear the diagnosis at 42 years old. Confronted with the reality of time-sensitive decisions and treatment curveballs, she relied on the American Cancer Society’s network of survivor mentors in navigating the uncertainty.
“There’s a stretch of time when your treatment has ended and you’re not going to doctors every week and you’re not getting ready for the next surgery or the next radiation or the next chemo infusion and that part is still really hard but nobody tells you that. Nobody tells you that the recovery part is still as emotionally hard as some of the early days,” she said
Now a bilateral breast cancer survivor, Barrett will give back to the community that supported her on her journey as a first-time volunteer at the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, Oct. 19 in Central Park. The annual, four-mile, non-competitive walk offers breast cancer patients, survivors, caregivers, and friends of the cause the opportunity to march in tribute and celebration of life.
Last year alone, 50,000 participants traversing Central Park raised nearly $2 million then invested into ACS’s research and support services, ranging from a customizable app to lodging for patients traveling for treatment.
“Being part of it, you really feel the possibilities of what ACS does,” Barrett said.
Since its launch in Boston in 1993, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer has steadily expanded its footprint, growing to 150 walks across the United States. Yet despite three decades of evolution, the driving force behind the movement remains constant. “Our main mission is to end cancer as we know it. The wording has changed but the mission has always been the same,” said Kendall Padovani, Senior Development Manager for the American Cancer Society.
This year, Shannon will be one of more than 300 volunteers. “We can’t do the work that we do without our volunteers,” Padovani said. “They can be doing anything on a Sunday morning but they chose to be here.”
Barret described volunteering as a “way of saying thank you” and a therapeutic outlet for herself, but it may also hold the key to her advice for those just beginning this journey:
“You have to know that there are people around and this amazing community that is cheering you on.”
