These are four determined women!

Tack this up on the fridge!

(longer than 3 weeks and not normal for you)
bloating abdomen
pelvis discomfort/heaviness
back or abdominal pain
fatigue
gas / nausea / indigestion
change in bowel habits / frequent bladder
unexplained weight loss / gain

………

The stats are scary…
• 2400 Canadian women will be diagnosed
• half will die
• vague symptoms often overlooked because women are busy
• early detection results in 95% survival rate

Four Barrie women, each touched in her own way by Ovarian Cancer, (often called the Silent Killer) set out a few months ago to organize Barrie’s first Winners Walk of Hope. Why? So women hear about this very silent disease. So they begin to pay attention to their bodies. So there’s money for research.

Four women… all connected through Ovarian Cancer. Kim Rowntree and Kristine Andreadis are sisters who lost their mom at age 52 to this disease; Laura Zawadiuk is an ovarian cancer survivor; Hayley Brajcic (who owns Hayley Verlyn Events) is supporting her mother through her own ovarian cancer journey right now.

Bring together a committed force like these four, add the fact that it’s a first time event with no history and no budget, and you’ll wonder how they’ve been able to achieve this walk next Sunday, September 7. From 9 am to 12 noon, walkers (with their pledges) will be doing a 2.5 km or a 5 km walk, cheered on by women in treatment right now, or by little kids like Kim Rowntree’s who’ve been raising their own money with lemonade stand fundraisers.

This team has developed a barrel of sponsors… the Advance, Rock 95, Meridian Credit Union, local organizations and businesses who have donated prizes, gifts, food, beverages etc. Musician Tonya Kennedy will entertain; Go Figure!’s Nancy Cook will lead walkers through warm-up exercises. So far this mini walk has outstripped official Ovarian Cancer walks in other large Canadian cities.

This walk has already surpassed its goal of 100 walkers with $100 each in pledges and will certainly exceed all expectations, moving Barrie to an official Winners Walk status.

What’s interesting is the creativity around fundraising without the financial sanction of Ovarian Cancer Canada. This mini walk is a proving ground for something much bigger. Kim Rowntree said that she’s been raising money to support volunteers on the day of the walk by selling Enviro Sacs, a pouch containing 5 rolled up, sturdy, nylon bags. In this day of non-plastic grocery bags, the 5 Enviro Sacs will bring home the groceries for a family of four for a week. They tuck away into nothing and, at $35 a pouch of 5 sacs, they’ve been a good fundraiser for the group’s Mini Walk.

She’s also selling individual sacs ($8) and kids’ sacs, very colourful, very sturdy, easy to wash and quick to dry. All of these will be available to purchase at the Lions Pavilion on Walk Day.

The entire walk gets underway Sunday, September 7 at 9 am at the Lions Pavilion in Centennial Park. Walkers doing the 2.5 km distance will head out for the Southshore Community Centre. Those doing 5 km will walk with them, returning to Centennial and trekking over the Heritage Park and back to complete their walk.

Opening ceremonies will see each participant don a Winners Walk of Hope T-shirt, courtesy of Ovarian Cancer Canada, and balloons, cheers, encouragement and support will honour the journey of every single walker. Each walker is walking for a reason… for a mother, a sister, a wife, a friend, or for herself.

Interested?
www.winnerswalkofhope.com
click ‘miniwalk’
select ‘barrie’ from the drop down menu
register online and if you sponsor online you get an immediate tax receipt
Kim’s # 792-5449