Saving our girls

"People don't care what you think, until they know that you care." - Don Rheem

It is no secret that I am on fire about the fight to find a cure for breast cancer. It is not the only cause that lights me up.

I care deeply about girls and how they can develop a lifetime of self respect and healthy living.

Those are some of the objectives of a group called Girls on the Run of the Triangle. I served on its board of directors for three years. I am so proud of the lives they've touched and the difference they've made in thousands of girl's lives.

This weekend, Girls on the Run is putting on its 7Th annual 5K fundraiser. I will be among the runners on Saturday morning. It's really something to see... hundreds of girls in all shapes and sizes going the distance. They are bold, spirited, and happy. You see them singing, laughing and clapping as they celebrate their accomplishments.

I think about those girls as I work on preparations for the upcoming KOMEN NC Triangle Race for the Cure in June. For truth be told, we are working-- no, we are fighting for them. The generation to come.

You see we can't protect these girls from breast cancer. Not yet, but we are moving in the right direction.

This is the vision of all of us who fight on the front lines and the side lines against breast cancer: That one day mammograms will not be necessary; that the day will come when we won't have to fear for the lives of our daughters or granddaughters.

I will take that vision and I will run with it this weekend, as I shout to those around me, "You Go Girls!"

What about you? Do you have daughters, nieces, granddaughters or younger sisters who will participate with you in the KOMEN NC Triangle Race for the cure?