About 200 people took part in last Saturday’s Walk for Hope at Warner Lake Park near Clearwater.
Walk for Hope is a nationwide effort to raise funds to benefit local breast cancer fighters, cancer survivors and to aid ongoing research.
It was the eighth annual walk sponsored by Clearwater Travel Plaza, and for most who take part in the event, it has special meaning.
“This is my sixth year,” said Marissa Popp from Annandale. “And this is the fifth year we’ve had a team.”
Her team, Mona’s Memories, was about 30 people strong. They were walking in memory of Marissa’s mother, Mona, who had died of breast cancer five years ago last Wednesday.
“The first year I walked it, my mom was still alive. She wasn’t able to walk with me,” said Popp. “She waited at the end for me in her lawn chair and pink ribbon blanket.”
Walkers raise money to fight breast cancer by getting donors to sponsor them. Popp says her mother, who was still working at the time in the Buffalo School District, sent out an email to her co-workers asking for support.
“She had about $500 in donations that I didn’t know about until that morning when she handed me the envelope to sponsor me,” said Popp.
She said they planned to have her mother there the next year, but she passed away not long before the event after a three and half year battle with breast cancer.
“After my mom passed away five years ago, all my family decided to walk with me,” she said. “We’ve been walking as a team ever since.”
The majority of the team is family, with friends of the family and co-workers joining in. Most were from the Annandale and Clearwater area or Mankato. Popp says one friend flew in from Florida for the walk.
“Originally, they were all here because of my mom. But there are some who have other connections with breast cancer,” said Popp. “One of the women is a breast cancer survivor herself.”
The group also had some kids and a few dogs along for the walk. One of the group’s dogs, Jellybean, who was dyed pink for the walk, won the Paws for Hope prize.
The Mona’s Memories Team won top honors for the highest donation and the “pinkest” team at the walk.
Team RTS (Real Time Solutions) from Becker won a prize for the biggest team (47).
Staci Stredelman from the Travel Plaza said the event raised $9,500. That number included sponsorships, donations and a silent auction.
All the money raised at the event went to the St. Cloud Hospital Breast Center.
