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SALT LAKE CITY — Thousands of women and their friends will take to the streets of Salt Lake City Saturday morning in a campaign against breast cancer.
The goal of the annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is to raise money for breast cancer research and awareness. But Saturday's race is also about showing support for the sisterhood of women affected by the disease — women like Becky Anderson.
"You never prepare yourself for that moment. I think the heart is always naive to those types of moments," Becky says.
That life-changing moment, as Becky remembers it, came in the form of a phone call. She was expecting a routine report from the doctor, assuming the lumpectomy would prove clear just as her mammogram had — this hope, despite a nagging feeling that the lump she felt was something.
"I'm hearing these pauses in his voice," Becky remembers. "He said, ‘I don't know how to tell you this but you have cancer.'"
They are words that would change this 37-year-old mom from the inside, out. But help and support quickly came pouring in.
"My little sister, who is 13 months to the day younger than me, has always been my pal," Becky says. "Her thought about this was, ‘I need to do something. I gotta do anything I can;' and hers was to be active to be service-oriented. And that came in the form of a fundraiser."
Now, with her own cancer in remission, Becky is paying it forward through her website: Anything for a Friend.
"Anything for a friend is a vehicle created to help God's kids serve each other when we are in trouble," she says.
Becky has helped organize five fundraisers to date, giving support to others who are going through struggles of their own. For her, "giving" is the key.
"People want to express their goodness, and I love that they have the opportunity to do that," she says.
Many other Utahns will take that same opportunity to help by participating in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Saturday morning in Salt Lake City. It begins at 8 a.m., and several roads will be closed. CLICK HERE for a map of the race route.
Email: bwalker@ksl.com
