Houlton residents walk for breast cancer awareness

    HOULTON, Maine — When the Bridge to Hope Breast Cancer Awareness Walk starts a week from Saturday at Riverfront Park, Kim Folsom will be there not only as an organizer, but as a survivor. This is her fourth year helping raise money for the American Cancer Society and her third as an organizer. Folsom said a portion of the funds raised will also help start a new pink tulip garden at the Houlton Police Station and other areas in town. In previous years pink tulip bulbs were planted in locations around Houlton and Hodgdon.
    Anywhere from 50 to 125 people have participated in the walk over the last three years, according to Folsom. They learned about it, she said, by word-of-mouth or by reading an article about the fund-raiser. “People collect donations. It doesn’t have to be so much a mile. If someone wants to do a $20 donation, they give $20. You can be an individual [walker] or form a team. We have people who form teams and give as a group,” she continued. There are no fund-raising goals. Other walks, according to Folsom have raised from $4,000 and up.
Folsom, cancer-free for three years, got involved as a participant initially after her diagnosis. “But I have kind of taken on the organizing since then,” she said. Both she and her late mother developed the disease. But, Folsom added, her mother did not succumb to breast cancer. “I always say early detection is the key. And, if I cannot say anything to anybody else, ‘make sure you’re up on your mammograms.’”
Folsom stressed the significance of information and research: “It’s very important to make sure that we do whatever we can to increase awareness and research on breast cancer — for our children, our grandchildren and our nieces.”
Folsom emphasized that any donation is welcome for the walk. “There are no minimums and everyone is welcome to participate — men, women and children.” Registration starts at 9 a.m.; the walk at 10 a.m. The three-mile course starts at Riverfront Park, goes through town and ends where it started in the park. For more information, contact Folsom at 538-6973.