Local Mother Plans 5K To End Lung Cancer

The event will raise funds to support the National Lung Cancer Partnership, an organization dedicated to doubling lung cancer survival by 2022. Lung cancer research is incredibly underfunded in proportion to the amount of Americans it kills every year.

Unfortunately, Elaine’s daughter was one of the 10-15% of lung cancer sufferers who have never smoked. Elaine explained, “the mindset is that people that have lung cancer are smokers and that they brought the disease on themselves. The bottom line is that nobody deserves lung cancer.” 

To cope with the heartache of losing a family member to cancer, Elaine and her family sought an organization that raises awareness about lung cancer and funds research. They found the Free To Breathe campaign. Elaine said “this organization was our best bet because 100% of their funding goes to research and education.”

The organizations they chose donate the majority of their profits to cancer awareness and research, a rare occurrence in the underfunded field of lung cancer research. The National Lung Cancer Partnership’s event series, Free To Breathe, became the Winchells’ way of helping the fight against lung cancer.

With the help of friends, family, and her daughters, Elaine organized the first ever Free to Breathe 5K in New York State. With the help of local businesses and volunteers, the inaugural event will take place in Lake George on Saturday, October 19, 2013.

Of the Lake George community, Elaine said, “We’ve had tremendous support. We have everything from services donated to food and drinks. We are extremely grateful to the community.”

The event already has 210 participants and counting. This year, they hope to get at least 250 runners and walkers. “Quite a bit of money has been raised so far through businesses and donations, as well as registers,” Elaine noted. Of course, volunteers are always welcome.

Through media, word of mouth, and personal stories, Elaine hopes that people will hear about the walk, participate, and tell other people about it. She said, “Everyone is going to be touched at some point in their life by lung cancer. The more people who participate and become involved, the more others become aware and educated.”

Despite all the planning, campaigning, and fundraising, Elaine says, “If, after all of this is done, I can say I did something to improve somebody’s life dealing with lung cancer, then I’ll be happy.” Elaine possesses a cheerful yet pragmatic attitude that we all can admire.

She and her family hope that after a highly successful campaign this year, more businesses and participants will take a second look in the future. Next year, Elaine and the Free To Breathe organization hope to double participation at the Lake George event.

The run/walk will begin in Shepard Park at Canada Street.

I will be at the Free to Breathe 5K Run/Walk walking to honor my healthy, iron-willed grandfather, Larry Bekelja, who passed away just last month due to unexpected and pervasive lung cancer. Will I see you there?