May 25, 2005 | Events

Cancer Survivors' Celebration is June 5

CHICAGO --- The 12th Annual Cancer Survivors’ Celebration and Walk will be held at 8 a.m. Sunday, June 5, at Grant Park (corner of Columbus and Balbo drives) in Chicago.

The walk, sponsored by The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, is expected to draw more than 4,000 participants.

The four-mile walk along Chicago’s lakefront is held annually on National Cancer Survivors’ Day. The walk honors survivors and all whose lives have been touched by cancer. It also recognizes the achievements of the Cancer Center’s physicians, scientists and health professionals whose work is inspired by cancer survivors.

In addition to the walk, festivities will include an opportunity to sign a Dedication Wall, as well as entertainment, refreshments and themed water stations along the lakefront route.

This year’s walk will introduce Faces of Cancer, 14 large photo-banners of individuals whose lives have been affected by cancer. The photo-banners will be exhibited on the walk route.

Three of the “Faces” who will be participating in the walk are available to talk to the media: Cancer survivor 5-year-old Noah Sanchez (and his mother, Cindy, who is also a guest speaker at the walk); Chris Stok, a 13-year non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma survivor, who is now a radiation therapist working with children with cancer at Children’s Memorial Hospital; and Kay Lindemann, a 13-year breast cancer survivor who became an oncology nurse.

Performers will include singers Heidi Kramer and Kerri Sherwood, in addition to the Jesse White Tumblers and Benny the Bull. Corey McPherrin of Fox News will be the emcee for the walk.

Registration is $10 before the walk. Online registration is available at www.cancer.northwestern.edu or at various locations in the Chicagoland area.

Registration is $20 on the day of the walk and begins at 7:30 a.m. Children under three and in strollers are admitted free. Pets are welcome. For more information call (312) 695-1304.