Educators from PS 31 on Staten Island — walking in memory of former colleague Karyn Ferrise, who died from breast cancer last spring — don their #TEAMTAMIKA T-shirts to honor teacher Tamika Little, a breast cancer survivor.
Having fun at the Central Park walk are Manhattan paraprofessionals (from second left) Joanna Brown of PS 94 @PS 188, Dorothy Matthews of PS 30 and Para Borough Coordinator Margaret Dalton.
Helen Jason, a cheerful sight in her frizzy pink wig and pink tutu, is a regular in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in Central Park.
For the past seven years she has walked for others, but in 2021 Jones, a teacher at PS 36 in Manhattan, was diagnosed with breast cancer and is still undergoing treatment. “Now I walk for myself and others,” she said. “The Strides walk gives me the inspiration to fight on.”
UFT members in all five boroughs and on Long Island participated in this year’s walks, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, on two separate Sundays in October, raising money for breast cancer research, advocacy and patient services. The UFT, along with its state affiliate, NYSUT, is traditionally one of the walk’s top fundraisers.
Some members walked to support loved ones currently going through treatment.
Miriam Lanzo Pagan, a para at PS 169 @ PS 146 in Manhattan who participated in the walk in Central Park on Oct. 15, knows just how devastating breast cancer can be. “For the first time it hit home,” she said, tears welling. “My niece is 35. Stage IV. She was just diagnosed two months ago.”
PS 177, Brooklyn, is well-represented on the Coney Island boardwalk.
Servia Silva, the Manhattan district representative who oversees the union’s participation in the Strides walks each year, said the event raises awareness of all the early detection options now available. She urged UFT members to get mammograms using their four hours of release time — a benefit the union fought for.
Danny Campbell, the chapter leader of PS 214 in Queens, arrived at Flushing Meadows Corona Park with a group of 30 people. “We’re here to honor the survivors in our building and to call attention to this disease, which impacts our profession at disproportionately high rates,” he said.
PS 214’s school secretary Wendy Tsang, a six-year survivor of breast cancer, was both touched and energized by her colleagues’ support. “When push comes to shove, we’re all here for each other,” she said.
The John Bowne HS team marches in Flushing.
Michael Friedman, the leader of the UFT’s Pathways to Graduation chapter, has been participating in Making Strides for 30 years. This year had a particular poignancy, as Minda Efondo, a longtime member of the chapter who had been struggling with stage IV cancer, died in September. Friedman considers the money his chapter raised, and his presence at the march, as the best ways to honor Efondo’s memory.
Members from One World MS in the Bronx, joined by UFT District 11 Rep Dana Falciglia (right), make their presence felt.
UFT President Michael Mulgrew, in a pink hat and T-shirt, walked in Central Park. “Sadly, we’ve had so many members who have had to deal with this issue, so the UFT has always been a top supporter of the Strides program,” he said. He noted the partnerships the UFT has with health care providers such as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. “Because a medical crisis is something no one should have to face alone,” he said.
Sylvia Ginsberg, the chapter leader at PS 349 in Queens, marched with five school colleagues, including two survivors of breast cancer, and their families.
“We all know someone who’s had breast cancer,” she said. “Just like we, as a union, come together to support public schools, we come together to show support for survivors. There’s power in numbers.”
