Walking the Walk

    Photo by Anne W. Leck: Susan G. Komen Walk for a Cure.
     That's Jenny and Erika waving to Anne.

Two of our daughters came home to Minnesota to participate this weekend in the Susan G. Komen Walk for a Cure!
by Charlie Leck

I was very proud of them – those two dynamic and exciting young women – my daughters. They walked 60 miles over this three-day weekend and, together, raised well over 5,000 dollars for the Race for a Cure for Breast Cancer. My pride check-mated my suspicions of the Komen organization and my displeasure with the organization last fall, when it announced it would provide no more grant money for Planned Parenthood – wouldn’t even accept an application from them (but they’ve reversed all that). Participation in the Komen walks, all around the nation, appears to be off about 30 percent this year; and that’s a good sized hand-slapping for the Komen organization. To give them credit, Komen’s web site now carefully displays how much money they are spending in administration and fund-raising and how much of it goes toward research and other projects. They now allow audits that show the organization’s administration costs are under seven percent of their income.

In spite of recent public relations problems, there were over a thousand walkers out this year here in Minneapolis and St. Paul; and their efforts raised over a million and a half dollars for Komen. One has to admire and tip one’s hat to all of those who walked the walked and I salute them (including my two daughters).

    Photo by Anne W. Leck: Jennifer and Erika on the Walk for a Cure

     Photo by Chas Leck: 2012 Walk for a Cure (Twin Cities)

    Photo by Chas Leck: 2012 Walk for a Cure (Twin Cities)

    Photo by Chas Leck: A walker and her dad relax after 60 miles of walking! 

There was a wonderful story on one of our local TV stations this weekend about Glen DeKeyser, who will walk in all 13 cities this year, doing 60 miles in each of them, in an attempt to raise one-hundred thousand dollars for research for a cure for breast cancer. See the TV clip of DeKeyser’s effort right here! And, if you want to donate money toward DeKeyser’s heroic endeavor, you can donate here!


The following photos are by Chas Leck: Walkers on Kenwood Parkway, Minneapolis

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