Two Sacramento Women Prepare For Mt. Shasta Climb
Sacramento is at the national forefront of athletic charity fundraising. But gathering money for athletic accomplishment via pledges, race entry fees or donations can be a sensitive proposition.
The Team In Training organization has helped thousands of runners complete marathons, all of whom have to commit to fundraising. The athletes get expert training, set goals and work together. And they ask friends, family and colleagues for money.
The outcome defines synergy. A very large percentage of the athletes reach their goal and complete a half-marathon or marathon. And millions of dollars are simultaneously raised for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America.
Several other groups and events — Run To End Stroke, Run To Feed The Hungry and Susan G. Komen Foundation — all have similar charity components and all have successful Sacramento-area programs.
East Sacramentans Nancy Cochrane and Connie Zupan, both breast cancer survivors, are now part of a smaller but equally prominent group with a lofty athletic goal.
Cochrane and Zupan are the only Sacramentans among a group of 40 who've been selected as members of the "Climb Against The Odds" expedition team organized by the Breast Cancer Fund. The group will attempt to climb Mt. Shasta in early July.
Cochrane, a Sacramento county deputy district attorney, and Zupan, a retired social worker, are experienced climbers. But when their application was recently accepted, reality hit. Each of the 40 participants is required to raise a minimum of $5,000, and each participant pays their own expenses. For Zupan and Cochrane, the trip will cost about $2,000 each, none of which comes from donations.
Like other charity groups, the generous nature of giving includes a sometimes awkward dilemma: Just what is the best way to ask your friends, family and neighbors for money?
Neither woman was comfortable with the situation, but they eventually sent a straightforward pitch letter to about 75 people.
"Dear Friends and Family, As you all know, Connie and I are both cancer survivors," the letter begins. "I was diagnosed with colon cancer in December of 1999. I will soon be celebrating the seventh anniversary of my surgery, and I am so happy to say I have been cancer free.
"Connie discovered she had breast cancer when she was a young mother with two children in 1978. She had a radical mastectomy, and in 2007 she will celebrate 29 years as a cancer survivor.
"Facing cancer is a challenge that touches each one of us in some capacity. Statistics say one out of eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in her life. The statistic has tripled since the 1940s.
"We have been selected by the Breast Cancer Fund as members of the 2007 Climb Against The Odds" expedition team that will attempt to summit Mt. Shasta in July of 2007. We will be joining 38 other women and men . . ."
The two women didn't know what to expect, but what happened surprised them. Donations arrived, many with heartfelt personal letters detailing the loss of family and friends after battles with cancer.
The generosity has provided the women's motivation for the pending trek, which any mountain climber knows is no small task. The group began training in February and will spend until close to their early July departure planning their journey and building their endurance.
"I really believe in what they (the Breast Cancer Fund) believes in, and that's prevention," said Zupan. "We're doing too much to our environment that shouldn't be happening. I've been supporting them for a long time and my daughter and I did a hike with them and that's how I heard about the climb."
Each "Climb Against Odds" participant will carry an estimated 40-pound pack, and the group will challenge several smaller climbs while increasing their mountain savvy for the two-day ascent of Mt. Shasta, elevation 14,162 feet. The round-trip journey will take 12-16 hours. The group will be tested by difficult terrain, including some sections reaching 35 percent grades.
"For people who have had cancer or know friends who have had cancer, this kind of activity we hope will bring them hope and courage," said Cochrane. "The fact that we're both cancer survivors really spoke to us."
The Breast Cancer Fund began its mountain expeditions in 1995 with the ascent of Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina in 1995. Mt. McKinley in Alaska (1998), Mt. Fuji in Japan (2000), Mt. Rainier in Washington and Mt. Shasta (2003, 2004 and 2006) have also been part of the program.
A documentary film was made after the program's inception, and it has prompted increased interest, including innovative support options. One popular donation provides donors of at least $100 a prayer flag. The pennant, with the honoree's named included, will be carried to the top of Mt. Shasta.
And, of course, Nancy Cochrane and Connie Zupan would be honored to have their packs a little heavier and carry as many flags as they can.
For more information about Climb Against The Odds, phone 866-760-8223 or visit the web site, www.breastcancerfund.org/climb. To make a donation to Nancy Cochrane and Connie Zupan, contact them at P.O. Box 19223, Sacramento, CA, 95819.
Read more of James Raia's rticles on his web sites, www.ByJamesRaia.com and www.TheWeeklyDriver.com. Contact him via email at James@ByJamesRaia.com.
