Montgomery Advertiser Video

This video was created by the Montgomery Advertiser in conclusion to one of their writers running 5 Komen Runs this fall. Four other women and myself were featured in it. The writer and runner, Kym, lost her mother at 17. Kym's mother was only 40. Her blog tells of her journey.

Breast Cancer 3-Day Komen

There are very few words that could ever describe my experience...something so inspiring and powerful. Everyone should have something they are completely passionate about in life, a cause that helps better others. In addition to my relationship with my Lord and Savior, at the top of my list is this. Over 3,500 individuals walking for one cause...to find a cure for breast cancer. Although absolutely mesmerizing, I quickly moved from being in awe of the masses to being in awe of the individuals.

The grandmother standing near us at Opening Ceremonies, who was diagnosed 6 months ago with triple negative breast cancer; the doctors have no idea what to do with this type. Her daughter was walking for her, for her granddaughter. Her comment to us, with a smile on her face: "This might not be able to save me or even you...but I feel certain that it will save our granddaughters."

The lady who just weeks ago was in a terrible car accident and not expected to live. She couldn't walk, but her dear friend pushed her in a wheel chair...right into the Closing Ceremonies.

The mother who was diagnosed years ago with breast cancer and has lived to watch her children grow up, walking in memory of her friend who didn't live to watch her child grow up.

The team, Kat's Courage, who was walking in honor of their friend because they were the ones who have continued to rally around her as she courageously battled this disease. She found a lump while breastfeeding her baby a year ago and is just finishing up her treatments.

Each person held a story. Each story so personal that it created a passion that could not be contained. The husband walking for his wife. The daughter walking for her mother. The mother walking for her daughter. The woman walking for her sister. The man walking for his friend. And the grandmother walking for all of the above.

Each of my team members from the Tutus for Tatas had ribbons attached to their tutus (yes, we actually wore them when we walked!!!). Among my ribbons were:
our survivors: Linda D., Pat T., Sarah M., Martha J., Nancy F., Shelley, Mary Ethel G.
our angels: Janet G., Kym's mom, Kelly's mom, Kathy M., Susie D., Linda S.
our friends fighting the battle: Kathy F., Kat

I had a fabulous time doing the Komen 3-Day Walk. The months of training paid off...although I did end up with several blisters, a sore knee, and tendinitis in my ankle. The rain on Friday, the 1st day, prevented us from sleeping in tents. But a sweet friend loaned us a bed for 2 nights!!! What a hot shower and a toilet that flushes can do for a 3-Day walker! From the Pit Stops (where we would refresh and rehydrate) to the Cheer Stations (where people we didn't even know thanked us for walking) to the miles and miles and literal miles we walked, the Breast Cancer 3-Day made a tremendous impact on my life.

Since it is so hard to express in words the magnitude of this experience, here's a slide show/video we put together. Enjoy! :)

and let us continue to "...run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

3....2...1...

and we're off!

Hebrews 12:1c "...let us run (or walk!) with perseverance the race marked out for us."

Addie, Anna, and I will be traveling to Atlanta tomorrow to meet up with my sister, Mary Anna. (Paul will be meeting us on Friday) They will drop me off at a hotel where my team is spending Thursday night. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday...I'll tell you ALL about it when I get back!

Please be in prayer (James 5:16) for:

• safe travel for everyone
  
• good health and no injuries (Philippians 4:19)
  
• strength (Isaiah 40:31) and perseverance (Hebrews 12:1c)
  
• good weather!
• no blisters!
• good rest at night (Psalms 3:5)
  
• breast cancer survivors (Psalms 116:7)
  
• those currently battling the disease (Isaiah 43:1b-3b)
  
• breast cancer awareness
• a cure
  
• that God will be glorified in all that we do! (I Corinthians 10:31)
  

Philippians 3:14

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Pink Out Game

The Faulkner University Volleyball Pink-Out Match was Thursday night. The team has raised over $5,500 through the Silent Auction and Awareness Dinner and Pink-Out Game, all of which will be donated to breast cancer research. Some of the funds will go to my 3 Day Komen Walk (which is next weekend, by the way!) with the rest going to Passionately Pink and the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Addie, my granddaughter, just chilling in the Hospitality Room at the Survivors Reception

We were so honored to have Kym Klass and her daughter join us for the Pink Out Game. Kym has run 4 of the 5 Komen Runs she committed to this year. She is running these in memory of her mother, who was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was Kym's age, 37. Her final run in Macon will be the same weekend of my 3-Day Walk in Atlanta. You can watch her video and read her blog here.

Kari (who loves Addie and Addie loves her right back) and Addie's Rie Rie (me)

Addie, Coach T, and her niece.
T made Addie and her niece their very own itty bitty shirts that matched ours!

(photo taken by Ryan Bartels, Faulkner University)
the team with some of the attending survivors

Make sure to check out my granddaughter's blog for a few more pictures!

Faulkner University Volleyball Awareness Dinner

Last night was the Faulkner Volleyball Awareness Dinner. We had a great time visiting with friends and family! The Volleyball team raised over $3,000 through ticket sales and the silent auction for breast cancer research! Praise God!!!

Doug Amos (the MC and a good friend)
Kim Hendrix (the keynote speaker and local news anchor for WSFA)
Me and Addie (my granddaughter)

(the cutest baby ever...but I am a little biased! :)
do notice the breast cancer ribbon on her dress!

Paul (my son-in-law), Me, Addie, and Anna (my daughter)

Addie with "T", the Assistant Coach who co-organized the event.
She's one of Addie's favorite friends!

Addie and Tori (the head Volleyball coach) and some team mates

Mr. What's-His-Name (Terry Brown, who Anna started calling this when she was a child!) and now "Little What's her Name"!
Addie figured out his face was scruffy like her daddy's.

Carrie (a team member and one of my students), Addie, and Toni (the team manager)
Addie LOVED both of these girls!

what a mess!

Addie, Sharon Paulk (my department chair and dear friend), and Me

the dress Anna and I made for the silent auction
Doug Amos, who has a precious little girl close to Addie's age, bought it!

It was a great night, and we all came away incredibly blessed by the servant hearts of the volleyball team and Kim Hendrix's message. The girls were successful in raising both awareness and money for breast cancer.

Faulkner Volleyball Team Benefit Dinner

The Faulkner University Volleyball team has adopted the theme "playing for the cure" for the 2008 year. Each home game is considered a "pink out" game, and the girls will wear their new pink jerseys in an effort to help raise awareness of breast cancer and the needs for funding its research.

On Tuesday, September 16th, the Faulkner Volleyball team will host a Breast Cancer Awareness Benefit Dinner featuring Kim Hendrix (a local news anchor) as the guest speaker. In addition to the awareness dinner, there will also be a silent auction.
I teach math at Faulkner, and the reason I'm writing about this event is first because the Awareness Dinner has the same goal as the 3-Day Komen walk I'm participating in: to raise money for breast cancer research. Secondly, I am thrilled that the team has committed to donate part of the proceeds from this Dinner and Auction to my walk. I am so honored that they would do this!

The basics:
Tuesday, September 16
Faulkner University Rotunda
Auction: 5:30-7pm
Dinner: 6:30
(doors open 5:30)

cost: $25 per ticket

Please consider purchasing a ticket and supporting this great cause!
You can email me (mmr0917@gmail.com) or my daughter Anna (arwamsted@gmail.com) to obtain tickets.

photography and graphics by Ryan Bartels-Faulkner Univeristy

Support Letter

We've been busy working on letters and envelopes over the past week! Although different in nature, asking for support is probably equally as challenging for me as training for this walk. The response has been phenominal, and I have already been so humbled by the gifts of others! Below is the letter I sent:

Dear Family and Friends,

On October 24-26, I'll be participating in a very special event, the Breast Cancer 3-Day, in Atlanta, Georgia. Thousands will walk the 60-mile route, benefitting Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund. My surgical oncologist at the UAB Kirklin Clinic informed me that they have received numerous research grants from Komen for the Cure.

As many of you know, I will have been a breast cancer survivor for two years in late September. According to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, more than 200,000 American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and nearly 40,000 will die from the disease. I am walking for our mothers, sisters, daughters, and granddaughters, as well as in honor of the doctors, nurses, family, and friends who cared for me. I am walking in honor of survivors everywhere and in memory of those who are no longer with us. I am walking because everyone deserves a lifetime.

The Susan G. Komen Foundation is working hard to build a future without breast cancer. Each walker pledges to raise $2,200 to benefit research programs. Please consider making a donation of any amount. You can donate online at http://www.marie3daykomen.blogspot.com/. Just click on Donate Now, and it will take you to the official donation page. Or you may fill out the attached donation form and mail it to the address on the form. You can also call 800.996.3DAY to donate over the phone. Ask your company if they provide matching donations. I hope that you'll share in this incredible adventure by supporting me in my fundraising efforts.

Feel free to call me at 334.399.4037 or email me at mmr0917@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you! Thank you in advance for your prayers and support!

Sincerely,

Marie M. Root

3-Day Komen Expo and Atlanta Training Walk

This weekend I went to Atlanta for a 3-Day Komen Expo and another Training Walk. Ten women from various teams met and walked 12.5 miles around Stone Mountain Park on Friday. Another Tutu, Judy, met me on Sunday and we walked 7.5 miles at Stone Mountain Park again.

On Saturday, I went to the Expo at the Loudermilk Center in Atlanta. There were vendors with shoes, t-shirts, and "assorted accessories." I did get my team shirt and hat, but my tutu wasn't ready yet (more about that later). We also got to sign a tribute banner.

They had a PINK tent on display like we'll sleep in for 3 nights. Reggie, also a Tutu, will be my tent mate! We'll decorate our tent...for fun, but also so we can FIND it in the "sea of pink!"

I also got a handful of Susan G. Komen for the Cure rings. "The two-color band symbolizes the unbroken Promise of two sisters to end breast cancer forever."

I went to an Expo 101 class and a class on Training. My friend Ellen and new friend Dana had already told me a lot of what was said in the 101 class. I did learn several things in the Training Class: 1.) that my fanny pack was good one because it has a place for TWO water bottles and 2.) that I need to drink 1 ounce of water for every 2 pounds I weigh EVERY day, and 3.) how to take care of blisters. Unfortunately, I got my very first training blister on the walk Friday :/

Ready to Walk!

I also learned the "porta potty stretch"...known as "hovering" in our family. Dana, our training walk leader, is demonstrating here.

Atlanta Training Walk

Last weekend I went to Atlanta for a training walk with a few members of the group I joined up with, Tutus for Tatas. We walked 8 miles on Friday and 7.5 miles around the base of Stone Mountain on Saturday...and I kept up with no trouble the whole way! Whew! I stayed with my sister, Mary Anna, and we had a fun time shopping and catching up.

Anna and I had searched for a "fanny pack" (yes, I know those aren't what you go to the mall wearing) but decided on a backpack (out of necessity not out of coolness...we couldn't find any fanny packs!) About half way through the 1st training walk, I realized WHY I shouldn't have a backpack! I'm not supposed to carry anything over my right shoulder (due to the sentinel node biopsy to take lymph nodes that they did during my surgery to remove the lump). So...needless to say, my left shoulder is quite sore from carrying my backpack containing two water bottles on one shoulder the whole walk!

And now I've found "the" fanny pack of fanny packs! The purpose of carrying one is to have 2 bottles of water, an extra pair of socks, and anything else you might need on a 20 mile hike! So here it is: the the Kelty Oriole Lumbar Pack

We are working on my support letter (probably as you're reading this), and you'll be receiving one soon, via email or snail mail! I am looking forward to a Montgomery training walk on July 19th at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival/Blount Park.

My Granddaughter--Addison Marie Wamsted

click on the picture to make it bigger

Some Frequently Asked Questions

About the Event

(this information was taken directly from the Komen 3 Day website)

How far do we walk?
The 3-Day route covers approximately 15-22 miles each day for three days in a row, totaling approximately 60 miles.

What if I can’t walk that far?
If you are unable to continue walking while out on the route, one of our support vehicles will transport you to the next pit stop, or ahead to camp, where you can rest and get medical attention if you need it. Your safety is always our first concern.

Where do we spend the night?
After a long day's journey, you’ll spend the evening at the 3-Day camp with your fellow walkers and crew members.

Camp will consist of many different areas, including dining tents, where you will eat dinner and breakfast, and shower and sink trucks for washing up. There will be a “3-Day Café” for relaxation and socialization, a stage for nightly announcements and entertainment, a sea of two-person tents that will be your home-away-from-home, and much more.

Part of what makes the Breast Cancer 3-Day such a memorable experience is the unique community that is formed at camp. For security concerns and because of parking and space limitations, our camp is not designed to accommodate family and friends. We ask that you adhere to a “no visitors in camp” rule. If you have a special reason for needing to meet someone while at the 3-Day campsite, please contact us for more information.

Where can I find information about the financial results of the 3-Day Series?
Each year, after all of the financial results of an event series are audited, a report card is issued. Click here to download a copy of the 2007 Breast Cancer 3-Day Report Card: Our Commitment to Action & Return to Charity Information.

Website

How do I find a participant's personal fundraising webpage?
Click on Donate and search by their first or last name.

(you can click on Donate in the column to the right)

Donations/Fundraising

Is a portion of the registration fee a donation?
No. Your registration fee does not apply towards your fundraising minimum of $2,200, nor is it tax-deductible.

If I can't participate in the event, what happens to the donations that I have raised?
All donations submitted to the Breast Cancer 3-Day are non-transferable and non-refundable. If you are unable to participate in the event, your donations cannot be refunded nor can they be transferred to another participant. Your donations will go directly to the cause as if you had participated, and we hope your donors will appreciate supporting the 3-Day beneficiaries regardless of your participation in the actual event.

Net proceeds from the Breast Cancer 3-Days benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure to fund breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment programs, as well as the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund, to provide a permanent endowment for breast cancer initiatives.

How do the beneficiaries utilize the contributions?
Net proceeds will benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure, to fund breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment. For more information, visit http://www.komen.org/. Net proceeds will also benefit the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund, to provide a special field of interest fund for breast cancer initiatives. For more information, visit www.nptrust.org/about_npt/special_projects.asp.

Click here to download a copy of the 2007 Breast Cancer 3-Day Report Card: Our Commitment to Action & Return to Charity Information.

Where should I mail donation checks?
All check donations must be attached to a donation form and should be mailed to the address listed on the donation form.

Who should I make my check out to?
Please make all checks payable to: Breast Cancer 3-Day.

Are donations tax-deductible?
Yes. All monetary donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Are registration fees tax-deductible?
No. Registration fees are not tax-deductible.

Can a donor give stock as a donation?
Yes. The Breast Cancer 3-Day accepts donations of stock. Stock donations must be $500 or more in fair market value and publicly traded. For donations of stock with an active market, the fair market value is the average price between highest and lowest selling price on the valuation date. No fees are deducted from the calculation of fair market value. To make a donation of stock to the Breast Cancer 3-Day please contact 800.996.3DAY (800.996.3329).

Do all donors receive a receipt?
Yes, anyone who donates, regardless of the amount, will receive a receipt if they provide a valid email address. For those who donate online, the receipt is generated directly after the donation is made and donors can print that receipt for tax purposes or personal records. For those who mail in a donation and provide a valid email address, the receipt is generated once the donation has been processed and is emailed to the donor. Those who donate $250 or more and do not have an email address will receive a copy of the receipt in the mail.

What is a matching gift and how do I apply for one?
Many companies (both large and small) offer employee matching gift programs. This means that when an employee makes a donation to a cause or non-profit organization, the corporation will “match” that donation with an equal (or greater) amount to the same group. Many of your donors may work for companies with matching gift programs and can double the impact of their donation by soliciting a matching gift from their employer.

Step One: Confirm that the company you are applying with will match for the Breast Cancer 3-Day. Check our list of matching gift companies, or contact the company directly (Our 501c3 number is 23-7825575.)

Step Two: The donor makes a donation and then initiates the matching gift process with their company. Most matching gift companies have either a paper matching gift process or an online matching gift process. Please read the instructions below for the appropriate process.

Paper Matching Gifts Process: If a matching gift company has a paper matching gift process then the donor must obtain a matching gift form from the matching gift company and complete the donor section. It is very important that the donor designates the Breast Cancer 3-Day (or NPT Breast Cancer 3-Day) as the recipient of the matching gift. The address listed in the company's database for the Breast Cancer 3-Day should be the same as the address where you will mail the matching gift form (see step three). Please do not choose Susan G. Komen for the Cure as the designated organization for any matching gifts going to the Breast Cancer 3-Day.

After the donor completes the donor section of the paper matching gift form, the donor gives the matching gift form along with the donation receipt the participant. Please proceed to step three.

Online Matching Gifts Process: If a matching gift company has an online matching gift process, then the donor must complete the matching gift process through the matching gift company’s database. Once the donor has completed the matching gift form the matching gift company will forward the matching gift form directly to the 3-Day. Please note that it is unnecessary for a participant or donor to mail a donation receipt or Matching Gift Checklist to the 3-Day for a matching gift that was completed online.

In other words, donors and participants submitting an online matching gift can skip step three.
Important note for donors processing matching gift forms online: If a matching gift company has an online matching gifts process, the donor must note the name and event city of the person they are sponsoring on the form. There is typically a line titled “gift designation,” “purpose section” or “notes” on the online matching gift form where this information can be added. Adding this information is required for the appropriate participant to receive credit for the matching gift.

Step Three: The participant completes the Matching Gift Checklist. You must send the completed checklist along with the matching gift form obtained from the donor to:
NPT Breast Cancer 3-Day
165 Township Line Road, Suite 150
Jenkintown, PA 19046-3593

It can take 8-9 weeks for the 3-Day to process the matching gift form. Once the matching gift form has been processed by the 3-Day, it will be posted on the My Progress page of your Participant Center, under Donation History. The donation type will be listed as “offline unconfirmed.” At this point, the amount of the matching gift will count toward your fundraising minimum.

Teams

How do I join or form a team?
If you haven't registered as a walker or crew member for the 3-Day yet, you may register online and select “Start a Team” or "Join a Team." Search for the name of the team you want to join and select it. Or call 800.996.3DAY to register and indicate that you would like to join a team. Let us know the team name, and one of our coaches will be happy to get you started.

If you've decided to join or form a team after you've already registered, call 800.996.3DAY and let us know so we can update your record.

Can team members share or split donations?
Each team member is still required to raise her or his minimum fundraising requirement. For the sake of the cause, we hope each team member will raise even more! The purpose of a team is to support each individual in doing more, not less, than they could do on their own. You can submit a large donation check over the amount of $2,200 to be split among members of your team who have not yet reached their fundraising minimum. This is the only case for which a donation may be split or transferred.

If this situation applies to your team, please contact us at 800.996.3DAY for additional instructions.