Ileana ‘11 made it her personal goal to get Marlborough involved in the Ninth Annual Kickin’ Cancer Run/Walk which took place in Brentwood, Sept. 19 to raise money for breast and ovarian cancer research through the Lynne Cohen Foundation.
This year, the Marlborough team won the title of Top Team Under Eighteen for the second year in a row. The team raised over $3,226 and was also recognized on the tribute wall set up on the stage across from the walk to honor teams that raised over $1,000. The money raised will go to five clinics across the country that provide free cancer treatment to women, regardless of how far their cancer has progressed.
Last year, Marlborough participated in the walk, but it was a much smaller team than this year. After interning for the Lynne Cohen Foundation the summer after her mother passed away to breast cancer, Ileana’s dedication to the organization and the cause has grown even stronger.
“You appreciate the walk so much more after doing the internship, because you can really promote it,” Ileana said .
The Varsity basketball team joined with student and faculty walkers to create a team of 57 donors. Only some of the donors walked or ran the 5k course, but the others still found ways to participate.
“I was thrilled to see how many people from Marlborough turned out this year. It was extremely energizing,” said mathematics instructor Melissa Banister, who has participated in the Kickin’ Cancer walk for the past two years.
Lynne Cohen, an active member of the Brentwood community, passed away from ovarian cancer in 1998. Shortly after, her children founded the Lynne Cohen Foundation and have seen the event grow every year. Nine years ago, the walk was held in the West Los Angeles Veteran’s Administration parking lot. Today, it is held on San Vicente Boulevard.
Ileana hopes that younger Marlborough girls will continue taking on the task of promoting this walk, as helping the Foundation will hopefully lead to a cure for breast and ovarian cancer. A part of her publicity is to get other girls interested and have them stay involved with the foundation.
“I walked with my dad because the rest of the Marlborough team decided to run towards the end, and he held up the team sign the entire time, even though I promised to hold it,” said Ileana.
