Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walks
Members from PS 200 in Harlem prepare to step off for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in Central Park.
Denise Nales, a Brooklyn teacher and eight-year breast cancer survivor, says she gives back every year by participating in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walks because she counts herself lucky.
“I had a whole entourage of people to support me” after being diagnosed with breast cancer, said Nales, who sported a pink tutu and a “SURVIVOR” sash as she waited to begin her seventh Making Strides walk in Central Park on Oct. 19.
This year, Nales, who teaches at PS/IS 206 in Sheepshead Bay, raised more than $1,000 for the American Cancer Society to support breast cancer research, patient services and cancer prevention and education initiatives.
Hundreds of UFT members in all five boroughs and on Long Island participated in the Strides walks on the last two Sundays in October, raising money and awareness. The UFT, along with its state affiliate NYSUT, is traditionally one of the walk’s top fundraisers.
Standing next to Nales in Central Park was Ruby Frink, a fellow PS/IS 206 teacher and a key member of her support network.
“I was actually with her when she got her news,” said Frink. “I will never forget that day,” she added, tearing up.
Teachers from PS 280 in Jackson Heights, Queens, “spread love” and show up for their colleague, teacher Michelle Grant (center), an eight-year survivor, at the walk in Queens.
“But I’m here and cancer-free,” Nales interjected, calling Frink “family.”
Manhattan Strides coordinator Safiah Ali-Jenkins, the chapter leader at PS 200 in Harlem, said the walks are “important because breast cancer affects so many women.”
Guiselle Espinoza, a teacher at PS 28 in Harlem, brought her mother, a breast cancer survivor, with her to the walk. “We just want to spread awareness of how important it is to take care of your health as women,” said Espinoza, whose school raised nearly $1,100 for Strides.
About 15 colleagues from PS 169 on Manhattan’s Upper East Side walked as a team in Central Park. “Everybody knows somebody” who is affected, said Chapter Leader Jeff Andrusin.
That includes Beverly Davis, a PS 169 teacher who has twice battled breast cancer. The first time was in 2003, when her daughter was a toddler. Twenty years later, she found another lump and faced the disease again. Both times, Davis said, she received tremendous support from her colleagues.
Davis’ advice to others: Do regular self-exams, go to the doctor if you find something, and stay positive. “You’ve got to say, ‘I’m going to beat this.’”