PHOTO BY MEGHAN ERKKINEN

Fife resident Michelle McLendon, left, with friend Jo Anne Hume, after a race. McLendon has organized a team of more than 40 participants for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure June 21.

Fife resident forms team to race for breast cancer research

By Meghan Erkkinen

When Fife resident Michelle McLendon began running in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure about four years ago, it was just another step in her personal running fitness program. The cause – raising money and awareness for breast cancer victims and research – was only a secondary goal.

But this year, her fourth year participating in the race, McLendon has a newfound interest in the cause. For the first time, McLendon began to organize a team comprised of members of her workplace, kitchen gadget company Progressive International, in Kent. It was after the team was organized that she and her co-workers learned that another employee was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“It’s different this year because I have people I’m doing it for,” McLendon said. “It has a little bit of a different meaning because people I know have survived.”

The fellow employee, who works in the human resources department, was diagnosed in January, and was pregnant. She began chemotherapy after her baby was born in March and has about six weeks left of treatment. She is continuing to work part-time in the office.

A total of 41 team members – half of the number of employees working at the company – are participating in the event, and the Progressive president has pledged to match all the money raised toward the event. So far, the team has raised a total of $2,700.

McLendon initially formed the team as part of a wellness program she implemented at her workplace.

“I wanted to come up with a program for the company that would just keep people moving and increase morale,” she said. “I wanted people just to get involved – I didn’t tell them to fundraise.”

But many of them did anyway. Some have even brought other participants, including one employee’s mother, a breast cancer survivor, to join the team.

“People are excited about it,” McLendon said.

Members of the team will be participating both in a co-ed walk and a co-ed run portion of the event. McLendon hopes to do both.

Race for the Cure takes place at locations around the country. McLendon’s team will participate in the Seattle event, which begins and ends at Qwest Field and Event Center June 21. Participants will raise money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which funds breast cancer research and provides care and support for breast cancer patients. For more information on the event, visit www.pugetsoundraceforthecure.org.

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