Walk benefits cancer research
Worcester woman leading team of walkers at Philadelphia lung cancer event
According to the Lung Cancer Research Foundation, an estimated 228,000 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer in the U.S. in this year alone.
The foundation says it is the leading cause of death worldwide.
On Oct. 27 thousands are expected to arrive at the Phillies’ ballpark to raise funds and awareness for lung cancer research.
Many of the participants in
the Lung Cancer Research Foundation’s “Philadelphia Free to Breathe Walk” are either lung cancer survivors, or are walking in honor or, or in memory of, a loved one impacted by the disease.
One of these participants is Nicole Albor, who is walking in memory of her father, Charles Albor, who passed away in March 2018 from a small-cell variety of lung cancer that had spread to his brain. “He was a smoker, but he was 11 years smokefree when he was diagnosed,” she said.
The Lung Cancer Research Foundation estimates that 65 percent of people who get lung cancer are non-smokers at the time of their diagnosis.
But Albor, a resident of Worcester Township, will not be walking alone. For the fourth year, “Team Albor” will band together to help improve lung cancer outcomes by going on a two-mile walk around the Citizens Bank Park concourse inside of the ballpark, and outside on the surrounding sidewalk.
This year Team Albor will have 25 walkers. In 2017, when his cancer was briefly in remission, Charles Albor joined the Free to Breathe walk. “I think anyone can relate to a cancer story, whether it’s lung, pancreatic or breast cancer,” Albor said, noting that she spreads the word via a Facebook event page.
Online donations can still be made to support Team Albor in the Free to Breathe Walk at http://participate.lcrf.org/site/TR/ RunWalk/General?team_ id=61271&pg=team&fr_ id=3938. “It’s super easy. It’s super convenient. You can donate $5, $10, $100 ...,” she said.
The Lung Cancer Research Foundation is hoping the total funds raised by the event will be around $250,000, said Emily Krimbel, the foundation’s senior director of marketing and communications.
Want to get more involved with the walk?