Stephanie Glitsch walked three miles with thousands of other women and plans to walk 60 more soon. With each step, she wants to support research to find a cure for breast cancer.

Like many, she has lost a loved one.

“I walk because I can’t walk away. My journey of 60 miles will end, but the rough road that some cancer patients must endure doesn’t,” Glitsch said. “I am committed to making finding a cure my mission as long as I have breath.”

The social work graduate student doesn’t think she chose her area of study by accident. Her professor, mentor and friend, Lisa Antoun, showed her how to see the world through different eyes. Glitsch proudly sees a community-driven career in her future.

She joined the Sacramento State Striders at the Susan G. Komen Walk/Race for the Cure last weekend in honor of Antoun and those in the community with breast cancer.

“Not everyone has a voice. She couldn’t do these walks, but I could do it for her,” Glitsch said.

The race helps move along the dream that all women in America will have access to screening.

“I think it’s everyone (who) has a commitment to the community. I want the access to early detection and screening for everybody.”

Nancy Fox, director of Transportation & Parking Services, did not join the walk this year but came with her mother, who is diagnosed with breast cancer, to the events after the walk to celebrate life with other women.

“We all, as women, are in this together. We focus on celebrating each day,” Fox said.

But it’s not only women who supported taking the steps.

Alfredo Orozco, assistant to the director for UTAPS, was one of the two men on the Sac State Striders team who came out to walk for the cure.

“We had a past employee who suffered and I think it touched everyone who knew her,” Orozco said.

Orozco said breast cancer is more prevalent than people generally think. He joined the Striders to remember his co-worker and walk with the Sac State community.

The Striders, with 52 members this year, raised more than $1,200 for the foundation. Janet Dumonchelle, Student Health Center pharmacist and Sac State Striders coordinator, wanted to bring the campus community together to support the cause.

In the group’s third year, Dumonchelle said she has seen the support for cancer research rise as the numbers double each year. She wanted Sac State to have a strong voice at the walks. While many campus staff, faculty and students have supported over the past, she wanted to create one group with one voice.

“We are blessed to have three survivors on our team. Everyone on the team knows someone who struggles with it or died,” Dumonchelle said. “Unfortunately, breast cancer knows no age limit.”

Some walk as survivors, some walk for those they have lost and some walk thinking of those in the future who can be spared.

The breast cancer walk was a first-time experience for Heidi Van Beek of Student Activities.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for the Sac State campus community to be involved with the greater Sacramento area.”

She hopes to increase student participation next year.

Glitsch walks for a friend who changed her as a woman and the way she lives today. As a young student, she saw a perspective that she said will direct the way she lives her life.

As an undergraduate, Antoun helped Glitsch get a job working in the student disabilities service at her college on the East Coast. That’s where her desire for community service began.

“Throughout, she showed me to look around and not take things for granted, how you talk to someone and what you talk to them about. People who aren’t facing a life-threatening disease take little things for granted. We lose track of what is essential and important.”

Giltsch can attest to the difficulty of watching a loved one fight breast cancer.

“Losing her was a very difficult experience. I wanted do something to keep her name living; it’s benefiting people who aren’t even born,” Glitsch said. “(Cancer) transcends race, gender. That’s the scary thing – anyone can get it.”

For Fox, events like the Susan G. Komen race united her and her mother to fight for a cure together.

“It’s a really important event for me and her,” Fox said. “We started going right after she was diagnosed and we walked together.”

And it’s all about joining together. While painful, women across the nation join to fight in a united effort to find a cure and change the future.

“Everyone who participates is moved to be a part of it. You can sit on the sidelines or be in the parade and you are part of the team,” Dumonchelle said.

She hopes to see involvement continue to grow each year by bringing the campus together on an important health issue.

Chloe Daley can be reached at [email protected].