Hawks Provide Support and H2O Station at the 5th Annual Faith Fancher 5K Breast Cancer Challenge

[Melanie Gregor]

Oakland, CA – On Saturday, August 22, 2009, the Holy Names Hawks enthusiastically provided aid, support and a welcomed offer of water to some 600 participants in the 5th Annual Faith Fancher 5K Breast Cancer Challenge around Lake Merritt.
This was the annual fundraising effort of Friends of Faith, Inc. (FOF); a non-profit breast cancer organization founded in 1997 by the late Faith Fancher, KTVU News Reporter, who died in 2003 from Breast Cancer. The sole purpose of this event is to benefit uninsured and underinsured women with cancer.

Since its founding, Friends of Faith, Inc. has raised in excess of $700K for women with cancer. Some of the Bay Area recipients of these funds include: Women’s Cancer Resource Center-Oakland, Charlotte Maxwell Complimentary Clinic-Oakland and the Circulo de Vida Cancer Support and Resource Center in San Francisco.

Afterwards there were sponsors and vendors booths, music by Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir. Some of this year’s sponsors included: FedEx, Stanford Cancer Center, Oakland Raiders, Mo’ Hair Technologies, 98.1 KISS FM/Clear Channel Communications, Whole Foods-Oakland, Luna Bar, Kaiser Permanente, AC Transit, Oakland Post, Clear Channel Outdoor, KGO-TV/DT ABC 7, First AME Church-Oakland and Beebe Memorial.

Knowing how to cheer people on came in very handy and was very satisfying when those runners and walkers came around the lake on their way to completing the 5K. The 13 softball players that gave of their time, energy and support at the water station at 18th and Lakeshore found an incredibly deserving crowd and appreciative recipients of those cups of water and shouts of encouragement.

Look for Holy Names next year during the 6th Annual Faith Fancher 5K Breast Cancer Challenge since we’ve already committed to volunteering our help for next year’s event!