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community focus and volunteerism A family unites through Making Strides Against Breast Cancer  Some families are spread across the country. Melissa Nichols, for example, lives in Brownsburg, Indiana, but has a sister in Michigan and a brother in Florida. Luckily, when Melissa was diagnosed with breast cancer in August, her siblings didn’t let the distance between them get in the way of giving her support. Melissa’s sister, Michelle, learned about Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, the American Cancer Society non-competitive walk for which teams raise awareness and dollars to combat the disease. Even though she lives far away, Michelle decided to form a team for the Indianapolis event in honor of Melissa. After the word spread, family and friends signed up to join them. Before long, Team Sweet Melissa grew to over 100 people. "A lot of it is friends and family, and friends of our family," Melissa explained. While everyone was coming together she was beginning chemotherapy, but her focus was on the outpouring of support from the people in her life. "It’s so awesome that you still have those friends that are there for you," she said. Team Sweet Melissa also honored participants’ other loved ones who have battled cancer. Three young team members lost their mothers to the disease so the team wore buttons during the event in memory of them. "The team wasn’t just for me," said Melissa. "It was for everybody, everybody got a lot out of it."  Soon after the Indianapolis team was formed Melissa’s brother in Florida, Mike, decided that Team Sweet Melissa should have another team in his state. He rallied more people to participate and bought plane tickets for Melissa and other family members to join him in the walk. It was recently announced that Team Sweet Melissa received the event’s Spirit Award. The family prepared for both events by taking advantage of their Making Strides Against Breast Cancer team websites at www.cancer.org/stridesonline to learn who was signing up and track online donations. Melissa checked the website each day. "It kept me busy, a good busy," she said. Preparing for the walk also created a reason for Melissa and her siblings to talk daily. "She was just excited everyday," said Michelle. "She kept saying, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do when the walk is over.’" Team Sweet Melissa became the top online fundraisers for both the Indianapolis and Broward County, Florida, events. Their total donation to the American Cancer Society amounted to over $16,000. Melissa recently completed her chemotherapy treatment and knows that her team will be back next year. "We did something so wonderful out of something that was so horrible," she said. "We knew it was something we all had to do, we’re all in it together." To learn more about Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, call 800-ACS-2345. Pictured right: Members of Team Sweet Melissa at the Indianapolis event Pictured left: Members of Team Sweet Melissa in the Florida event | |
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