Survivor Celebration & Warrior Walk
The first annual Survivor Celebration & Warrior Walk in June 2021 at St. Louis Premium Outlets was a true example of no one traveling this road alone. The event kicked off at 9 am in the food court where survivors and a special guest gathered for breakfast donated by Straub's and a celebratory presentation by Jan Middleton, Pink Ribbon Girls Director of Education & Peer Support. Many of our survivors had never met in person since peer support moved online during the pandemic. Each survivor received a special PRG tote bag designed by Cheree Berry Paper filled with many special goodies including a journal, key chain and much more. PRG STL client Tera Klein shared her personal story of why PRG was important to her when going through treatment and then each client joined Jan on stage for a Survivor group photo. There were many hugs and lots of tears of joy! Each survivor and their family members also signed a banner to commemorate the day.
At 10 am, we kicked off the Warrior Walk around the 0.5-mile route at St. Louis Premium Outlets. Clients, caregivers, friends, sponsors and supporters gathered to walk 100 miles in honor of the 100 families we serve on a weekly basis. They blew the goal out of the water and collectively walked 240 miles! A BIG, BIG thanks to event co-chairs, Kelly Walbrandt and Jennie Billhartz, for putting so much love and attention into all of the details of this event. We also loved having firefighters from the Monarch Fire Protection District hand out pink helmets and support our mission. We appreciate our volunteers from the National Charity League… we could not host such wonderful events without our amazing circle of volunteers! Ryan Weitzel captured our day as the volunteer photographer and Melissa Fox made the amazing balloon creations. Attendees were also able to go through the Hope in Motion, PRG's mobile education airstream unit to learn how to do a self-breast exam and also about the signs and symptoms of gynecological cancer.
This free event for our survivors and caregivers would not have been possible without our sponsors. A special thanks to our title sponsors: Ann's Bra Shop and Walbrandt Technologies. We also appreciate Straub's for donating the delicious breakfast for survivors and caregivers. Other sponsors included: St. Luke's Hospital, The Billhartz Family, The Hunter Family Foundation, TechGuard Security, U.S. Tape and Label, Triad Bank, KDR Designer Showrooms, Mercy, Renaissance Plastic Surgery, Interior Design Center, Puma Biotechnology, Dr. Dan Cohen and Radiological Imaging Consultants and Carie Forrester.
It was a great day and we look forward to next year's event in June 2022.