By JANE LaTOUR

On a chilly, blustery Sunday morning, they traveled on crosstown busses from the West Side and streamed uptown on subways from Brooklyn. From all parts of the city, they headed to Central Park Oct. 17 for the “Making Strides against Breast Cancer Walkathon.” All were wearing distinctive T-shirts in different colors over their jackets. The pink ribbon on the shirts symbolized the struggle to find a cure for the disease.

Each year 275,000 women nationwide are diagnosed with breast cancer and 40,000 die. The annual event, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, raises money to eradicate breast cancer as a life-threatening disease by advancing research, education, screening and treatment.

Hundreds of DC 37 members participated. Michael DeMarco, president of Traffic Employees Local 1455, walked with members of his local, including Bobby Spiro and his wife, Kerriann. “We’re here in support of our friends and our brothers and sisters,” said Mr. DeMarco. “We lost a good friend this year when Jackie Catala died.” The DC 37 Executive Board voted to dedicate this year’s participation in the walkathon to the memory of Jackie Catala, the late wife of Blue Collar Rep David Catala.

Mobilizing members
Inspired by the recent death of longtime activist Ann Gaddy, Clerical Administrative Employees Local 1549 launched a successful drive to mobilize members for the march. Ms. Gaddy had been a member for 34 years. “At age 81, she was still working in the Bronx Borough President’s office and still an activist. Last year she told me that her breast cancer had returned,” said Executive Vice President Lenora Gates. When she and 3rd Vice President Cheryl Minor began to rally support, they learned that at least five Local 1549 activists are undergoing chemotherapy.

Carolyn Stewart, a Central Supply Assistant at Coler-Goldwater Hospital for 41 years, and a member of Municipal Hospital Employees Local 420, has walked for six years. “You hear about so many women with breast cancer. You never know when it might strike,” she said, as tears spilled down her cheeks. “I feel I need to be a part of this. I want to support women who are fighting the disease.”

Family losses
Local 1549 member Nadine Brown organized a group of coworkers from the Human Resources Administration to walk with her. “Last year my grandmother passed away from breast cancer,” she said. “So I also have a personal reason for walking.”

Local 1549’s Viola Washington brought granddaughter Latonya, 14, and grandson Shamel, 12, along. Recently, the family lost a beloved member to breast cancer. “We’re here to honor her memory and to support the search for a cure,” she said.

Social critic Barbara Ehrenreich, herself a trained scientist and a founding member of the women’s health movement, wrote about breast cancer for Harper’s Magazine in October 2001, as she received treatment for the disease. “We need treatments that work, and above all, we need to find the cause of breast cancer, which is very likely environmental,” she said.

Despite some advances in detection and therapy, the death rate from breast cancer is increasing. Breast cancer rates are much higher in industrialized countries with more sources of environmental toxins. Geographical concentrations of breast cancer, like the “cancer alley” in Long Island and New Jersey, argue against lifestyle and genetic explanations. “We need to know the cause of this killer, so we can stop it before it hits another generation,” said Ms. Ehrenreich. On Oct. 17, the DC 37 women fought not only for detection and treatment of breast cancer, but also for prevention.