October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and to bring more recognition to the topic, Niles West Physical Welfare held its first walkathon during all gym periods on Oct. 2. During the walkathon, students walked around the track and could donate to the Lynn Sage Foundation to help raise money.

This isn’t the first time West has held a fundraiser or an awareness event for breast cancer. West used to have fundraisers mainly during sports games. Physical Welfare teacher and coach for Girls Varsity Volleyball, Stacy Roth goes more in-depth about the meaning of the walkathon.

“This year, the Physical Welfare Department wanted to involve the whole school, not just sports, so it makes it more meaningful. I came up with this walkathon and [I did] this at a school many years ago. We held the walkathon for three reasons. Firstly, we wanted to [make] breast cancer awareness more known to students. Second was to honor the survivors. We did have some survivors out on the track throughout the day. Also, we wanted to remember the ones who lost their battle to breast cancer,” Roth said.

As breast cancer is common today, some students here at West have family members who were affected by this type of cancer. Sophomore Ashley Dhanka explains her opinions on the topic and the walkathon.

“Some people at Niles West have had family members that have had some type of cancer, which can affect your emotional status. It’s hard to see one of your loved ones suffer when there is no way you can help them. I’m really glad West did this walkathon as it brought a better understanding to the topic and how many people are affected by it daily,” Dhanka said.

The Girls Varsity Volleyball also played a big part in the event. Junior Kaylee Cao talks about what the volleyball team contributed to the cause.

“The Niles West Girls Volleyball program partook in the walkathon by making posters and wearing pink the day of the event. Some teammates and I were asked by our coach to draw some signs that helped encourage people to support breast cancer. The team and I were then also asked to sell raffle tickets to help donate to the organization,” Cao said.

Breast cancer and cancer in general is a topic that can never be overstated. Niles West Physical Welfare hopes to do this again next year to fundraise and spread awareness.