Cancer Thriver Flotilla: Exercise to Help Prevent and Treat Breast Cancer
Did you know that Exercise Helps Prevent and Treat Breast Cancer!
Exercise also helps prevent other forms of cancer, too.
Spread the word by supporting the Cancer Thriver Flotilla…
Sept 12, 2015
1:30 pm to 6:30 pm
at the Key Bridge Boathouse, 3500 Water St. NW, Washington, DC 20007
We’ll Stand Up Paddle, Kayak, Canoe in a Flotilla for Health and Happiness.
Help us Meet Our Goal of Promoting Cancer Thrivers
We have 3 main goals. We hope you’ll help us meet these goals:
1. Help Cancer Survivors become Cancer Thrivers
- We want to let the world know what people with cancer can do, and share by example so more cancer survivors become Cancer Thrivers — people who are living meaningful and active lives, no matter their diagnosis.
2. Raise Money for 3 Awesome Breast Cancer Organizations
- We’ll donate proceeds to three wonderful organizations that help breast cancer survivors become Cancer Thrivers: Living Beyond Breast Cancer, BreastCancer.org, and GoPink!DC, the DC breast cancer survivors’ Dragon Boat team.
3. Spread the Word about Exercise and Cancer
- Exercise helps prevent and treat breast cancer. Really! Exercise Cuts Risk of Breast Cancer for All Women. Need more proof? And more!
The Cancer Thriver Flotilla: An Epic Journey
On September, 12, 2105, Zahara Heckscher and a group of cancer survivors and their friends and families will paddle up the Potomac all the way from Georgetown to Fletcher’s Boathouse and back, a round trip journey of almost 5 miles.
It’s a beautiful trip with plenty of opportunities for visiting with wildlife, from Blue Herons to water snakes to turtles.
Even more important, it is a chance for cancer survivors and their allies to take action to improve their health and spread the word: Exercise helps prevent and treat breast cancer.
This is our second epic journey. Last year , the Cancer Thriver Flotilla traveled from Nationals ballpark to Bell Haven VA on the Potomac.
How You Can Help
- Make a donation to this campaign. Consider getting an Honor Leaf in honor or memory of a cancer survivor
- Join us September 12. You can join for the whole journey or just part of it. You can SUP, canoe, kayak, bike, or walk. We’ll email you details. Either sign up via the perks on this Indiegogo campaign or email zaharapeace@gmail.com
- Please like the campaign on Facebook, tweet it, and email it to your friends
- Email Zaharapeace@gmail.com if you’d like to volunteer at the event
- Share this link with media contacts and ask them to cover this event
- Tell all the women you know: exercise helps prevent and treat breast cancer
- Organize a cancer thriver event in your community.
Who Are We?
Martin Weil and Zahara Heckscher lead the Stand Up Paddling team for the Cancer Thrivers Flotilla. Here they are at Boating in DC’s Key Bridge location.
Zahara Heckscher is a Cancer Thriver and the coordinator of the Cancer Thriver Flotilla. She is a mother, wife, writer, and educator. Zahara is passionate about life and determined to share the word with other survivors — you can thrive no matter your diagnosis. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008. She is currently in a clinical trial at Georgetown that involves chemotherapy — but that hasn’t stopped her from jogging, biking, and of course, stand up paddling.
Who else is part of the team? Other survivors, friends and supporters in various roles. The kayakers, canoers, supporters, walkers and bikers include Martin Weil, Eric Thiel, Max Heckscher, Yael Flusberg, Zein El-Amine, Berlin Madison, Bethany Robertson, Roz Timberg, Bracha Laster and many others.
Honor “Boats”
- Would you like to honor a cancer thriver in your life, a supporter, a fallen warrior in the struggle against cancer, or a medical provider such as an oncology nurse? One of our perks is an Honor “Boat”, a special leaf with that person’s name and a personal message from you. If you get this perk, we’ll contact you to get the details of your message. We’ll also email you a photo of the boat.
- We will launch the first boats on September 12, and future boats over the course of the campaign at future events TBD.
Where does your donation go?
Our funding will be used as follows
- Part of the funding will go for the direct costs of the journey (most items will be donated or paid for by participants, so that we can make a maximum donation to the beneficiaries)
- All additional donations will go right to the three fabulous breast cancer organizations:
- Go Pink DC is a dragon boat team of breast cancer survivors.
- BreastCancer.org is a superb resource for women with breast cancer, and includes excellent resources on the role of exercise in preventing and treating breast cancer.
- Living Beyond Breast Cancer offers webinars, fabuloso conferences, and other forms of support for breast cancer survivors.
All these organizations help survivors become Cancer Thrivers.
GoPink!DC is one of the beneficiaries of your donations.
Risks & Challenges
- This is a challenging journey. We’ll have a team of folks to help us prevent harm from dangers such as the water bacteria and hand blisters.
- If there is bad weather, we will reschedule for Sept 27.
Allison Silberberg, the Vice Mayor of Alexandria, VA, welcomed last year’s Cancer Thriver Flotilla to Old Town. (Photo by Lori Waselchuk.)
Thank you for helping Survivors become Thrivers
- Every donation will help the Cancer Thriver Flotilla and three fantastic organizations that help women with breast cancer thrive.
We Love Our In-Kind Sponsors
BoatingInDC is our favorite place to learn how to SUP and rent a water ride in DC. We’ll leave from the Georgetown Key Bridge site.
Peeled Snacks: Pure fruit for pure people power.
Cabot Cheese: makers of the World’s Best Cheddar and owned by dairy farm families with 100% of the profits going back to the farm family owners. Coop, dairy farmer owned — and perfect energy for SUPing. Cabot is donating yummy cheddar cheese to power the flotilla.