Mother’s Day marks the celebration of life as well as the beginning of the Race for the Cure fundraising season for two local breast cancer survivors.
Karen Gordon of South Brunswick and Joan Litt of East Brunswick start to fundraise now for the Susan G. Komen Central and South Jersey Race for the Cure in November so they can do their part to help end breast cancer.
“I started my (Race for the Cure) team because I wanted to do more,” said Gordon, who was 41 years old when diagnosed with breast cancer, in a statement prepared by Creative Marketing Alliance (CMA) on behalf of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. “I have really good health benefits and I had a wonderful support system with my husband, my kids, my parents, my friends and people at work. After I was healthy again, I realized everyone isn’t as lucky as I am so I started a Race for the Cure team for Komen Central and South Jersey.”
When Gordon was diagnosed with Stage 2A Triple Negative Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, the first thing that crossed her mind was her children, a 20-year-old son and a 16-year-old daughter.
“I didn’t tell them; my husband did because it broke my heart,” Gordon said in the statement. “He told them I had this diagnosis and as a mom I was petrified. I wasn’t going to see my kids get married – that’s the first thing that went through my head. I was terrified. I knew I’d see my daughter graduate high school, but would I see my kids get married? Am I going to meet my grandkids?”
Gordon completed four months of chemotherapy after a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction and a hysterectomy.
Once Gordon, now a three-year survivor, had her health back and completed treatment, she wanted to help others. Her team of 40, Hakuna My Ta-Tas, participated in their first Komen Central and South Jersey Race for the Cure in 2014.
Gordon now volunteers as the Race for the Cure registration chair.
Last year, in addition to being a team captain and race volunteer, Gordon, her mother, and aunt hosted an event in Millstone to raise funds for their race team and collected more than $10,000. In all, her team raised more than $11,000 for Komen Central and South Jersey last year.
In a similar fashion, 31-year survivor Litt has undergone three battles with cancer. She was first diagnosed at age 37 with Triple Negative Breast Cancer in 1985.
“I was so scared, I thought my life was going to be over,” she said. “I had just gotten my first son’s Bar Mitzvah date and I didn’t know if I’d be there. Three years later when it reoccurred, I had just gotten my younger son’s Bar Mitzvah date and I had the same feeling.”
Litt, a long-time volunteer with Komen Central and South Jersey, got involved through a friend, taking her first steps with the organization at the Race for the Cure to help someone else in 2001.
“The first time I did anything with Komen, my neighbor had just passed away from breast cancer and I was very close with her,” Litt said in the statement. “After the funeral, friends and I were talking and the Komen walk was approaching a week later. We all said we were going to walk in memory of this woman and that’s what we did. It was wonderful and all the comraderie gave me such a warm feeling.”
After her first few races, Litt continued to participate in the Race for the Cure through a woman she met while volunteering at a nursing home.
“We’ve become close friends and we do a lot of Komen stuff together,” she said.
“When I was first diagnosed, I had no one to talk to,” she added. “I will never do that – I will talk to everybody and tell everyone there is hope. I want to help people and let them know it’s not the end.”
The Race for the Cure will be held at Six Flags Great Adventure on Nov. 6. To register or make a donation, visit www.komencsnj.org/race.
