On Your Mark . . . Get Set . . . Race for Someone You Love!

By Ellen Sussman

MANCHESTER—Pam Nemlich is enthusiastically approaching her second year as chair of the Vermont/New Hampshire Komen Race for the Cure. Nemlich will oversee thousands of participants and hundreds of volunteers in the 13th annual fundraising event, to be held on Sunday, July 31 at the Hildene Meadowlands in Manchester.

Nemlich was employed for fifteen years by one of the Race’s gold sponsors, the Vermont Country Store, and has been a steady volunteer in a variety of capacities since the Race for the Cure was first instituted in Vermont in 1992. She says she took on the role as chairperson in 2004 because it was the right time and the right opportunity to give back all that she learned over the years.

Her first year as chairperson coincided with the first year that New Hampshire joined Vermont to create the VT/NH Affiliate for the Komen Race for the Cure. Approximately fifty percent of Vermont’s breast cancer patients are treated at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

Nemlich’s biggest challenge in 2004 was “trying to learn it all.” Being an experienced volunteer helped, but the event details are innumerable. “We virtually build a city for a day,” she explains. She vividly remembers watching more than 3,800 participants line up for the 5K walk.

She was surprised at the flow of money. “Everyone knows someone who’s been touched by breast cancer; people are willing to open their wallets. All you have to do is ask,” she says. Seventy-five percent of the Race proceeds fund programs in Vermont and New Hampshire that focus on breast cancer screening, education, and treatment. The remainder supports research and education projects nationwide through the Komen Foundation’s national grant program.

For the 2005 Race for the Cure, one of Nemlich’s personal goals is to cut costs where possible in order to funnel as much money as possible to benefit those impacted by breast cancer. Last year, parking was moved off-site with buses shuttling participants back and forth. Although successful, the plan cost $2,700. This year parking will be back at the Meadowlands, and on the morning of the race, River Road will be converted to two inbound lanes to direct traffic to the Meadowlands parking area.

Nemlich also hopes to attract 4,000 participants; last year’s 3,800 were a record. She is pleased that five businesses – Vermont Country Store, Orvis, the Vermont Realtors Association, DCM Foundation, and Ben and Jerry’s – have signed on as Gold Sponsors donating $10,000 each. Ben and Jerry’s is also sending a scoop truck to the Meadowlands on race day.

According to the American Cancer Society’s most requested graphs and figures for Cancer Facts and Figures 2005, New Hampshire, with more than twice the population of Vermont, ranks ninth nationally in mortality rates from breast cancer, whereas Vermont ranks twenty-sixth. When the Race for the Cure began in Vermont thirteen years ago, Vermont ranked eighth in mortality. Some believe that the statewide publicity, education and awareness brought about by the Race may have helped in reducing Vermont’s mortality rate, and it is hoped that with increased education and awareness that New Hampshire’s rank in mortality rates will also improve.

The Komen Race for the Cure publicizes Vermont’s Ladies First program, a federally funded state initiative which promotes awareness and helps remove financial barriers to treatment. It allows women aged 40 to 64 (and those over 65 without Medicare Part B), with a household income up to 250 percent of the federal poverty level, access to mammograms, biopsies, treatment, programs and support groups.

At the core of each year’s race are the volunteers. Nemlich says it’s the spirit of volunteerism that is so special. “Some volunteers are with us every year, some for one year,” she says.

All it takes to be a volunteer, according to Nemlich, is, “To be a believer in this cause, and to be a good listener because every part of the Race puzzle is important.” Volunteer jobs include calling businesses statewide to pledge money, working the registration table, and handing out water to the participants on race day.

Survivors are a special focus at every race. Last year the Komen Foundation brought out a new survivor program called the Co-Survivor Program, in which survivors choose one or more new survivors to bond with. A double band of ribbon, one pink and one white, signifies their participation.

“For survivors, the Race is both a confirmation and a celebration of their lives. It’s an acknowledgement of their struggle, and their success,” Nemlich says. Recalling images of last year’s Race survivors, she adds, “I hope we are whatever they need us to be for them that day.”

Ellen Sussman is a freelance writer who writes for several Vermont publications. She has served as a Race volunteer for several years.

Why I volunteer at the Komen-VT-NH Race for the Cure

By Linda Maness

Why do I volunteer at the Komen VT-NH Race for the Cure®?

It begins with the story of an invitation I received several years ago. A childhood girlfriend asked me if I wanted to take part in a fund-raising walk in Manchester, Vermont. A cancer-patient counselor, she explained that the event would benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and its local state affiliate. She furthered explained that the Komen Race series was also about raising awareness of breast cancer and about educating the public about the disease.

I knew a couple of women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer and the Race sounded like an organization I wanted to support. Walking 5K on a summer’s day was the way I could do it.

That summer, on the last Sunday in July, the two of us walked and talked amongst a couple thousand women, men and children — many with pink In Memory Of and  In Celebration Of  placards pinned to the back of their t-shirts. Emotions ran high that day and continue to do so each year on Race Day.

Many women walking that day were survivors — some taking their first steps of exercise after treatment. Others were family members marking the passing of a loved one.

After that first walk I quickly found out that walking on one specific day was only one way I could support the local Komen affiliate, which expanded in 2004 to cover two states and is now the Komen Vermont-New Hampshire affiliate.

Over several years now I have volunteered by stuffing Race participants’ bags, working the registration table, tallying pledge money, captaining a local team, encouraging others to walk or run, slicing bananas, bagels and oranges, and even picking up garbage at the end of Race day. I have seen my son and older daughter volunteer too, stuffing race participant bags and handing out water on the Race course. In more recent years my mother and younger daughter have also become volunteers, slicing bagels and bananas too.

The last few summers I have walked and talked along River Road on Race Day knowing my two daughters and husband were also walking along the road supporting the effort.

I have also written about my volunteer experiences; my hope being that each of my writings reaches out and spreads awareness of breast cancer. I have written about the Race itself. I have written about the committee members who make it all happen and the opportunities on how to get involved with the Race. I have written about massage techniques, oncologists, hospital services and support groups.

But most importantly I have written about the personal experiences of survivors and breast cancer patients who have boldly spoken with me.

I keep volunteering, walking and writing for them. And so, why do I volunteer at the Race for the Cure®?

I volunteer because I have family members who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. I volunteer because I have friends who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. I volunteer because every day women and men I do not know are being diagnosed with breast cancer.

When I volunteer at the registration table I meet moms, dads, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandmothers and grandfathers who are all drawn to the Hildene Meadowlands to take part in something special. Most are there because they, too, know someone who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Many are survivors themselves. Some are survivor supporters. Some have been invited by a friend to participate for the first time.

In March of 2004 I spoke at the Komen VT-NH Race for the Cure® kick-off breakfast and addressed why I am so committed to this cause. It’s  because the list of people I know who have been diagnosed with breast cancer continues to grow each year, but I am pleased to report that most of them are survivors today! I volunteer for them. I volunteer for the woman, or man, who may be diagnosed tomorrow!

For more information on the 2005 Komen VT-NH Race for the Cure® including how to register online or volunteer please visit www.vtnhcure.org.

Linda Maness, of Pawlet, received the Many Hands Award for volunteerism at the 2004 Komen VT-NH Race for the Cure®. Linda will be at Hildene Meadowlands on River Road in Manchester, Vermont for the 2005 Komen VT-NH Race for the Cure® on Sunday, July 31 and hopes you will be there too!