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Syracuse Community Raises Money at Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk Syracuse Community Raises Money at Making Strides Against Breast Cancer

The American Cancer Society helps cancer patients and survivors with resources.

By Tessa Howard

CHRISTINA FLANDERA: “Stay positive. That’s what you have to do, you have to stay positive in something like this. That’s the healing process.”

TESSA HOWARD: Christina Flandera, a Syracuse breast cancer survivor is walking her fifth time at Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. A walk hosted annually by Syracuse Upstate University Cancer Center and the American Cancer Society. Flandera says not only does she walk to raise money for cancer research but she also makes homemade jam.

FLANDERA: “I have a basket about this big, I started out with a few things and I make jam.”

HOWARD: Flandera was diagnosed with stage one in 2016. She says all by the grace of a mammogram scan.

FLANDERA: “Don’t let it go by. Don’t let it slide.”

HOWARD: Salina Doherty, Upstate Mobile Mammogram employee says with the new technology, no woman should be scared to take their annual test.

SALINA DOHERTY: “Now it’s digital and it’s 3D. So you detect more cancers. It’s a much better more advance technology.”

HOWARD: She raised four-hundred and ninety three dollars out of her five-hundred goal. All to give back to what saved her. Tessa Howard, N-C-C News in Syracuse, New York.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News)— The Making Strides Against Breast Cancer fundraiser walk on Sunday made over $160,000 for breast cancer research, patient support, and cancer prevention. More than 1,600 walkers showed up at Clinton Square in downtown Syracuse to show their support.

The event is hosted annually by the American Cancer Society and Upstate Cancer Center during Breast Cancer Awareness month. Syracuse breast cancer survivor, Christina Flandera said this isn’t going to be her last time raising money for the organization that saved her life.

“So far, my group has raised $493,” Flandera said. “It’s a small group but, I created Christina’s Crusaders after my diagnosis.” 

In February 2016, Flandera went in for a routine mammogram. She later received the news that she had stage 1 breast cancer. Flandera remembers calling the American Cancer Society for resources. 

“Breast cancer doesn’t run in my family, so I was shocked,” Flandera said. “American Cancer Society did so much for me during that hard time. I had to give back.”

For the past five years, Flandera has been raising money for the American Cancer Society. Not only does she walk in fundraisers and collect canned goods, but she also creates baskets full of jam to raffle off at her job. 

“I have a basket about this big,” said Flandera. “I started out with a few things, and I make jam.”

Flandera said without her yearly mammogram, she wouldn’t have detected breast cancer so early. After undergoing rounds of chemotherapy and radiation that lasted for an entire year, Flandera now calls herself a survivor.

“Get your mammograms,” said Flandera. “Don’t let it go by, don’t let it slide.”

Salina Doherty, an Upstate Mobile Mammogram employee, said with the new technology, no woman should be scared to take their annual test.

“No more film,” said Doherty. “Now it’s digital and much better, more advance technology.”

According to the American Cancer Society, attendance at a regular mammography screening substantially reduces the risk of dying from breast cancer. Researchers said women who skip even one scheduled mammography screening before a breast cancer diagnosis face a significantly higher risk.

“I’m here to save lives,” said Doherty. “Please get your mammograms.”

If you need to schedule an appointment for a mammogram, you can fill out a form here. If you do not hear back within 3-5 days, you can call 315-464-2582.

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