Community Corner
Palisades Residents Walk for Breast Cancer
Hundreds of people participate in the Sunday event that benefits the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation.
Overcast skies and cool temperatures did not stop hundreds of people from participating Sunday in the fourth annual Pacific Palisades Love Walk/Run to benefit the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation.
The money raised from the event will help Love, a Pacific Palisades resident, with the breast cancer research she does in the Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica areas.
“If we can figure out what causes this disease, then these little girls here today will never need to know what breast cancer is,” Love told the crowd. “That’s our goal.”
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The event has raised more than $150,000 over the past three years, and more than $50,000 this year not including money from people who registered Sunday, according to Naz Sykes, executive director of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation.
“This is the first year we’ve added a run component—before it was just a walk—and we have also added kids’ activities and food trucks that will serve food after the walk,” Sykes said.
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Between 300 and 400 people of all ages participated in the event. There were parents pushing strollers, dogs walking alongside their owners, breast cancer survivors and caregivers, and people who just wanted to help. “I am walking today because I am a breast cancer survivor, my mother died of breast cancer and I have a fabulous 21-year-old daughter who I want to grow up in a world without breast cancer,” said Lissa Levin Guntzelman of Los Angeles.
“Dr. Love has revolutionized research in the field of cancer, and I think she is a maverick,” said Gail Pekelis, owner of Women’s Physical Therapy Rehabilitation, which sponsored a team for the event.
“We have a breast cancer rehabilitation program, so we want to participate in anything that raises money for research or helps out in any way,” Pekelis said.
Her team consisted of patients, physical therapists and other medical staff from her offices in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills.
“One of the things we hear the most when women come in after breast cancer surgery is they just want their life back,” Pekelis said. “They want to get back to their yoga and their Pilates, and we try to get them back to normal as soon as possible.”
