News Releases 2002

Dance for the Cure Announces Honorary Chair

Dance for the Cure named Gay Walker as the honorary chair for the annual fundraiser in memory of the late Kalamazoo resident, Mary. C. Robinson.

"Mary Robinson's life is still giving," Walker said. "Her name is very much alive. Her experiences are helping other people. That's what healing is about."
Like Robinson, Walker strives to help and to support cancer survivors.

About fourteen years ago, Walker was grieving the deaths of several friends, all breast cancer victims. "I cried an entire week. What am I suppose to do with this?" she asked.

Her response: face cancer, look it in the face and get to know it.

Walker's career switched from a graphic artist to an art therapist in the holistic health program at Western Michigan University. She works with children cancer patients at summer camps, breast cancer survivors at weekend retreats and hospice patients in their homes.

Four years ago, Walker's own diagnosis initiated her into the secret society of women—breast cancer survivors. "I didn't think I would get breast cancer," she said. "I thought I was granted some immunity since I was helping others."

As a member of the breast cancer community, she is no longer an outsider looking in. Now, Walker faces cancer, looks it in the face and is getting to know it from the inside by living with it. "Being a survivor is important. It is achieving something," she explained.

Walker feels that cancer comes with a responsibility to give back, to help others going through a similar situation—something Dance for the Cure models in her opinion.

For the third year, Dance for the Cure will memorialize the death of Mary Robinson, an eight-year breast cancer survivor of Kalamazoo, who looked cancer in the face and got to know it. Two years in a row, she won the survivors' race in the Komen Race for the Cure® at Battle Creek.

Like last year, the dance will be at the Olds-Wells Hall at Kalamazoo College. On October 26, during breast cancer awareness month, The Andy Paul Band will provide an evening of entertainment. This year's art auction is shadow box art by local artists.

All funds will support breast health outreach programs sponsored by the Southwest Michigan Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.