The Immediate Impact Walk begins TOMORROW!!

event fundraising progress as of 10/9/14, 4:50pm

Greetings, dear Friends and Family!!

My bags are (almost) packed, and I'm just about ready to head out early tomorrow morning for Day One of the Immediate Impact Walk in San Francisco! We'll be walking 20 miles tomorrow, 20 more on Saturday, and the final 15 on Sunday. The forecast calls for a high of 68 tomorrow, 72 on Saturday (which is when we walk through the hotter microclimates of the City) and 79 on Sunday (a little hot for my taste, but I'm sure I'll survive!).

I'm "camping" for the first time in the five years that I've participated in these mulit-day walks. When I say "camping" I mean, we stay at a facility called "Nature Bridge" in the Marin Headlands, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco (http://www.naturebridge.org/conference-facilities-golden-gate) We'll be staying in dormitory – style rooms with bunk beds! We'll also have electricity and running water, so this City Girl will be just fine. :)

Tomorrow morning, I will meet my team at 6:00am to begin the third Immediate Impact Breast Cancer Walk. As I mentioned before, this is a true grass roots effort and labor of love. We will have about 40 walkers and 9 volunteer crew members making our way through 55 miles in San Francisco throughout the next three days. I am so proud, and so honored to walk side by side with these extraordinary women. We'll even have a few men joining us on Sunday!

Our event goal is to raise $150,000, and we're well on our way! Our small, but mighty group has raised $131,804 (and counting!).

More than 80% of the funds raised by this year's event will be granted to three local Bay Area non-profits who provide services to people living with breast cancer, and our one national beneficiary. Our walk will immediately impact the lives of many women and men through these nonprofits - The Breast Cancer Emergency Fund, Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic, and the Friend to Friend Shop at UCSF Mt. Zion. Some of the services provided by these organizations include: paying PG&E bills, rent, and gas, and providing wigs, prosthesis, and alternative care that supports the path of chemo and radiation. We also have our beneficiary, METAvivor Research and Support. METAvivor is the only national nonprofit focused on metastatic disease. Funds granted will be directed to the Research Program. You can read more about each of our beneficiaries here: http://immediateimpactwalk.org/ourimpact.asp

My thanks to all of you who have donated to this very worthy cause. With the generous support of my friends and family, we have raised $12,325 so far! This is an extraordinary amount of money, and I am simply amazed by it. It far exceeds the $10,000 goal that I had set this year, and I wasn't sure if that would be possible to do again, especially with my move up to Seattle.

YOU made that possible. Every donation, no matter how large or small, will make a difference in the lives of local women and men living with breast cancer. I cannot thank you all enough, not just for what you have done to support me me, but for what you have done to make a difference in the lives of others. Increasingly, uninsured and underserved women are critically dependent on the grassroots efforts of people like you and me. I will be making the walk, but you will all be there beside me making the difference in their lives.

I want to thank you all again for making the fund-raising part of this experience such a pleasure. With each donation that came in, I felt more and more motivated to train each day and weekend.

I will carry each of you with me as I walk the 55-miles over the next 3 days. You will be with me in spirit, helping me along the way.

I will certainly be taking a lot of photos all weekend long, and will try to post to my blog. I hear our camp has WiFi, but it may be spotty, but I'll do my best. You can follow those posts here: http://trinachow.blogspot.com/search/label/Immediate%20Impact%20Walk

Thank you again for all of your generosity, support and encouragement!

With Gratitude,
-Trina

update!
(8:40pm)