—Catharine Zink
Junior Graphic Designer

On September 21, I joined my friend and team captain, Nicole Sweeney, and 8,800 other participants in the Jimmy Fund Walk along the Boston Marathon route to support Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s mission to conquer cancer.Nicole formed the team, Blister for Bucks, 7 years ago and has been walking every year since. This year our team raised $4,228 for Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund, bringing the 7-year fundraising team total to almost $20,000.

Nicole walks for many reasons, one of which is her cousin Chelsea (seen on the far left of the photo). Chelsea is only 19 and has been in remission from brain cancer for over 5 years now. After her surgery, doctors told her that she would probably never walk again. She has proven them wrong and this year was an official walker, making it 3 miles, mostly without her cane. I dedicated my walk to my sister-in-law, Noreen McLaughlin, who lost her battle with breast cancer a year and a half ago at age 42.

What a fun and memorable event it was! It was amazing to see so many people coming together to support such a great cause. Along with the 8,800 walkers, there were more than 1,000 volunteers, more than 350 Dana-Farber employees, and 35 sponsors on the course. We even saw Matt Light (pictured above), former New England Patriot, who hung out along the route just to cheer walkers on!