Location: American Cancer Society Office
Date: Wednesday, February 12, 2014; 6:30-7:30 pm
Previously on Making Strides…
2013 had started with strangers coming together to plan an event which has come to be a
flagship program for American Cancer Society in Chicago – ‘Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk’. For months, we gathered in the ACS conference
room after office hours and discussed how we were going to recruit walkers, get
sponsorship's, ask for in-kind donations, plan the day-off events and in general, how we were going to make the day a success.
Then came the early morning kick-off breakfast, that got everyone
excited and told us that yes, we would put on a great event. A few days before the walk was an evening of
final touches and getting things ready to go.
Finally, there was the walk itself.
It was a success beyond my expectations and some of the most fun that I
have had while volunteering. We had a
holiday party in December to celebrate our achievement and then it hit us - very
soon it would be time to start the 2014 planning process. Sure enough, the email arrived requesting
interested parties to gather this cold Wednesday evening at the same ACS
offices. A sense of familiar feeling came
over me as I entered the lobby of 225 North Michigan Avenue building. It was time to get to work…to go beyond what
we had accomplished last year. For what’s the point of doing things repeatedly
if you do not have ambitions of improving on your performance. As I walked in the room I saw a group of
people gathered in the same conference room that I had come to know so
well. Welcome to another season of
Making Strides Steering Committee Meetings!
 |
| Yes, I can |
There were some familiar faces
from ACS, like Ted, Carrie and Jesse, as well as some of the committee members
from the previous year. There were many new faces as well, including a lady who had come with a little girl. The entire room was decorated in pink and
there were pink notepads and pens available for us to take notes. First up was introductions and Ted noted that
there were a lot of new faces, except me and a few others. As we went around the room, as expected everyone had a personal story on why they were here, including survivors and
some with family members who had been afflicted with the disease. I said that I had a blast last year and
having seen thousands of happy faces at the Photo booth, there was no way I wasn’t
going to show up.
Carrie, who would be leading the
team this year, started by explaining how she envisioned things being
different. She said that rather than
calling it subcommittee, she would have 6 task groups: (a) Survivor and Caregivers
– Caregivers being added this year, (b) Mission, (c) Advocacy –a very important
task force to promote the cause, especially since Illinois Governor had cut
funding for mammograms, (d) Promotions, (e) Entertainment & Activities and
(f) Children’s Tent. People could choose
to be on one committee or on multiple. It
looked similar to the structure that we had last year and I mentioned it; as
did a woman near me! A rose by any other
name…
Carrie was laying down the law and said that there would a minimum attendance requirement this year,
with at least 70% attendance mandatory – meaning 7 of the 9 meetings that had
been planned. I said that this would
depend on the schedule and the woman near me agreed again; almost giving me a
high-five! Carrie said that the schedule
would be decided after reaching consensus and if we couldn't attend in person,
we could still call in. Besides this, the
members would be of course required to register for – and volunteer – at the
walk, become a member of ACS CAN – ‘Cancer Action Network’ – and also serve as an ambassador for the walk and
recruit people. Fundraising was
optional, and definitely something that would be my weakest attribute.
The woman near me brought up the
issue of change in leadership last year, where Adam had left in the middle of the
planning cycle, and which had thrown everything in chaos. Ted said that he had been careful in hiring Carrie and mentioned how she
had shown her commitment by showing up for one of last year’s event at short
notice. We clearly saw what he was
talking about because Carrie’s is an extremely confident woman. She mentioned how her goal was to get Chicago’s
numbers up, with the city having fewer walkers than Indianapolis and raising
less money than Detroit. I said that it
could be because we had other breast cancer walks like ‘Komen’ and ‘Avon’. She said that this wasn’t an excuse since
other cities had those as well. I for
one believe in her leadership for this program.
I left excited, though with some questions in my mind regarding the
commitment that would be required. But
one thing is sure, I would try my very best to make it work since I do want to be
involved. Yep, it was going to be
another great year.
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