I am blessed

Hello! My name is Amanda and I work in the Cox Media Group sales department here in Charlotte. When I first heard about the Charlotte Avon Walk for Breast Cancer coming up this fall, my initial reactions were "man, 40 miles is a long way to walk in 2 days!" and "Whoa! There is no way I can raise $1,800!" But after learning more about the amazing work the Avon Foundation does, I quickly realized there was no way I could sit on the sidelines for this one.

I am blessed to not have lost a family member or close friend to this disease, but I have been witness to many who have struggled with it, both first and second hand. The incredible amount of courage and strength women exhibit as they battle this disease is awe inspiring. As I struggle to meet deadlines at work, stress out about making my quarterly budgets and try to make sure I balance all of it with quality time with family and friends, it is their stories of struggle and triumph that truly put things into perspective.

I am also blessed to have insurance and access to medical care so that if I am ever affected by breast cancer personally, I have every opportunity to beat it through early detection, screenings and treatments. Unfortunately there are thousands of women who cannot say any of that. So many women face this horrible disease without the financial, medical and emotional support that my teammates and I have. Since 2003, The Avon Foundation has raised $472 million for breast cancer programs. In addition to supporting research to find a cure or prevention, the Avon Foundation helps ensure more patients have access to quality care, particularity those who are underserved, low income and elderly.

I am blessed with an amazing group of family and friends, so that if I am ever faced with breast cancer personally, I have a support system to give me strength, love & encouragement. I am walking for the remarkable women in my life. Whatever I can do to bring more awareness to this disease and funding for its eventual cure, I want to do. The women in my life inspire me every day – my mom, my grandmother, my aunt, my cousins, my sisters-in-law, my oldest friends, my newest friends, and all of the friends in between – it is for them that I am walking.

I am also walking for my precious nieces. If you know me well, you know just how in love with them I am (and you have seen countless pictures of them as I brag about how I have the most beautiful nieces in the world!) Tessa, Sophie, MG, and Kensie: I am walking so that when they grow up, they don’t have to be afraid of breast cancer. I am walking so they don’t have to battle this disease themselves or lose family and friends to it. I am walking so that maybe one day they don’t have to.

I hope that you will join me in this cause and support Team 9/64 as we do what we can to make a difference. The more of us who walk, the more of us survive!

WSOC