Eagle Crest Villa Senior Living facility hosted a walk-a-thon to raise funds and awareness in the fight against breast cancer. On the morning of Saturday, Oct. 19 residents, staff and visitors to the eldercare center donned pink and power-walked through the facility’s halls. For every lap participants walked around the facility, Eagle Crest Villa donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Eagle Crest Villa administrators reported it was able to raise $405 this year.
“Any time Eagle Crest has a chance to support our community near and far, we take it,” Assistant Director Ashley Sands said in an email to the Tri-County Reporter. “We are grateful to those in our community that came together to show support for the survivors, their families, a wonderful organization, and to share their stories. So many families have felt the effects of having a loved one receive that unfortunate diagnosis and was there by their side in their fight. One of our own staff members still receives treatment for her Stage 3 cancer 20 years after receiving that news and undergoing surgery. She is so grateful to the National Breast Cancer Foundation who reached out to her early in her journey to offer assistance. So, it was an easy choice in deciding which organization the funds raised would go to. If we can raise funds to support an organization that gave hope to someone we personally hold dear and countless others, we will.”
Excluding skin cancers, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the United States. According to the American Cancer Society, it accounts for about one-third of all new female cancers each year. In 2024, the organization estimates there will be about 310,720 new cases of invasive breast cancer diagnosed in women and about 42,250 women will die from breast cancer.
Breast cancer mainly occurs in middle-aged and older women. The median age at the time of breast cancer diagnosis is 62. Overall, the average risk of a woman in the United States developing breast cancer sometime in her life is about one in eight.