A team of Gateway Community College (GCC) nursing students and faculty participated in the Making Strides against Breast Cancer Walk of New Haven October 14 at Lighthouse Park, New Haven. Barbara McFarland, MSN, RN, CCRN, associate professor of nursing, said that 10 nursing students and two children participated in the walk on a blustery Sunday afternoon. They raised $800. “The Gateway community is always very supportive,” she said.

The Student Nurses Association is a very active group at Gateway, McFarland said. “We encourage our nursing students to participate in events or fundraisers that have to do with health care and they do get very involved,” said McFarland, the association’s faculty advisor. “They are very eager to be part of the walk because a lot of people have been touched by breast cancer. They might know a family member or a friend who has had breast cancer and they want to do what they can to help.”

Making Strides is a 5k (3.1 mile) walk held to honor cancer survivors and to raise funds for the American Cancer Society. The funding goes toward breast cancer research and providing information and services and access to mammograms. The walk is now in its 20 th  year. Last year, Making Strides events raised $6 million in New England and $60 million nationwide. Earlier this month, the Student Nurse Association held a bake sale on the GCC Fairway to raise money to fight breast cancer.