What a wonderful eight days I recently spent with the Amgen Tour of California (AToC) cycling race, traveling in beautiful California from Escondido up to Santa Rosa! (Read my previous blog with further information about the AToC here). Congratulations to BMC Cycling, the overall group team winner, Tejay van Garderen, the overall individual winner and the honored Breakaway Mile Champions who helped share the message of cancer awareness, prevention and support.
Breakaway Mile Champion & cancer survivor Dee Williams leads the Breakaway Mile in style!
Breakaway from Cancer (BFC) is made up of four nonprofits, the Prevent Cancer Foundation, the Cancer Support Community, the Patient Advocate Foundation and the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, who offer a variety of resources for people touched by cancer. Each organization was highlighted during one of the four Breakaway Miles, a special walk to recognize cancer survivors worldwide. During each Breakaway Mile, survivors, caregivers, health care professionals and supporters joined Amgen and BFC in a walk that honored a designated cancer champion who has made a difference in the cancer community. Saturday was the Prevent Cancer Foundation’s Breakaway Mile in Livermore, CA and we were proud to have cancer survivor Dee Williams as our Breakaway Champion. Dee is a twelve year breast cancer survivor who actively volunteers with several organizations that support others in their journey through cancer treatment and recovery. Read about all of the Breakaway Champions here.
Foundation Board Member & Amgen Director of Advocacy, Kathryn West @ the Breakaway from Cancer Tent.
All eight days of the Tour were packed with people, from avid cycling enthusiasts to curious locals. Many onlookers stood along the route with encouraging posters for their favorite riders, some came all the way from Europe and Australia to follow the Tour, while others were first-timers who wanted to witness this big, action-packed event in their community. Working together as a team, the BFC partners welcomed everyone to our BFC tent to provide cancer resources from prevention to survivorship. I had many wonderful conversations with people who shared their cancer story and were very appreciative of the work we are doing to Stop Cancer Before it Starts! Many of our visitors were surprised to learn there was so much you could do to prevent cancer, so it was great to see those visitors walk away with important health information, resources and a new outlook on taking better care of themselves and their family.
Thank you to California, Amgen, AEG, our BFC partners and to everyone who works toward saving lives through cancer prevention and early detection!
Prevent Cancer Foundation’s Carolyn (Bo) Aldige (center) w/ Amgen Exec. Director of Research, Dineli Wickramsinghe & Amgen VP & General Manager of Oncology, Bob Azelby.
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