To kick off the second annual Walk Around the World for Breast Cancer — a series of worldwide events to raise funds to fight the disease — the Avon Foundation held a Global Breast Cancer Survivor Day Luncheon Thursday at the New York Historical Society, where 37 breast cancer survivors and international breast cancer research scientists gathered for the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
“We’ve raised funds and awareness for breast cancer in over 50 countries, and by the end of this year, we will have had events held in 39 different countries,” said Carol Kurzig, executive director of the Avon Foundation, who added that since the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade was launched in 1992, over $450 million has been raised worldwide for research into a cure for breast cancer.
Keynote speaker Jorge Gomez, a director at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., gave highlights of ongoing studies on breast cancer and new initiatives being launched in Nigeria, the U.S. and Latin America.
Upcoming events of Breast Cancer Awareness Month include a celebrity concert in Slovakia, a breast cancer survivor motorcycle tour in South Africa, a series of 39-mile Avon Walks in the U.S. and a race in Guatemala. New York’s two-day walk, starting on Saturday, is expected to generate about $10 million.