The Camp Joins Race for the Cure

The Camp joins team for 2017 Komen Inland Empire Race for the Cure

Susan G. Komen Inland Empire held its Team Captain’s Pink Rally Wednesday, Aug. 30, to help kick-off the 2017 Komen Inland Empire Race for the Cure. The event was hosted by Europa Village in Temecula wine country.

Sonia Briseno, breast cancer survivor, shared her story and the role that Komen played in her journey. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2008. At the time, she was a single mom with two young daughters. In 2012, she found a lump in her right breast. She had her sister accompany her to her doctor’s appointment. The doctor asked her sister when the last time was that she had had a mammogram, and her sister’s response was in 2008. Subsequently, her sister was also diagnosed with breast cancer. They journeyed together and even had their surgeries scheduled on the same day. Briseno has partnered with The Camp Transformation Center to start a team in this year’s race and they are encouraging others to join or start a team.

New and returning team captains arrived at the winery to get an overview for this year’s race. Past team captains shared helpful tips on recruiting team members and fundraising. Several guest speakers shared how they have partnered with Susan G. Komen Inland Empire.

Temecula Valley National Charity League has been a partner with Komen Inland Empire for more than four years. The organization focuses on mothers and daughters serving communities to develop strong women leaders. The organization has volunteered more than 1,000 hours to help Komen Inland Empire’s Race for the Cure. The mothers and daughters have folded race T-shirts, assisted race team captains with packet pick up at the Promenade Temecula, worked with race participants to paint tiles on race day, plastered the community with race posters and organized the Kids for Komen Inland Empire coloring contest at the Promenade Temecula.

Team Pechanga has held the title as the largest fundraising and largest team for several years. Last year, Team Pechanga had close to 300 team members and raised nearly $70,000.

Breast Cancer Solutions has been grantee and partner of Susan G. Komen Inland Empire since 2002. The organization helps breast cancer patients that are uninsured or underinsured in the Inland Empire with financial resources. Heather Gilbert, board president, thanked the team captains for their participation and fundraising efforts.