Walkers make their way through Mount Prospect on Saturday during the second day of the Chicago Breast Cancer Komen 3-Day Walk.
Dave Dvorak/ddvorak@dailyherald.com
The Chicago area's Susan G. Komen 3-Day walk received a warm welcome Saturday in Mount Prospect as it wound its way through several Northwest suburbs before walkers settled in at Maryville in Des Plaines for an overnight stay and the final leg to Soldier Field.
The walk is likely to be the last in the area for the foreseeable future. The Susan G. Komen Foundation announced in June it is canceling half of its 3-Day fundraising walks next year, including Chicago, due to declining participation. The walks raise money for breast-cancer research and outreach programs.
The Mount Prospect Special Events Commission helped organize local businesses and residents to show support for this year's walkers by cheering, holding up signs, even decorating their houses in pink. The walkers entered Mount Prospect twice — in the morning at Golf Road and Route 83, and again in the evening at Euclid Avenue and Route 83.
The community has been very supportive in past years, with people lining the walk's route and police officers directing traffic wearing pink uniform shirts.
The 3-Day began Friday at the Northbrook Court Shopping Center. Participants walk 20 miles each day.
The Mount Prospect Cheerleading Club cheers on walkers Saturday as they make their way through Mount Prospect during the second day of the Chicago Breast Cancer Komen 3-Day Walk. The club raised $1,000 with the help of their sponsors and donated the money to a mother-daughter team.
Dave Dvorak/ddvorak@dailyherald.com
Stefanie Buxel, left, of Madison. Wis., makes her way to a rest stop during the second day of the Chicago Breast Cancer Komen 3-Day Walk on Saturday. Buxel said she is walking for cancer fighters and survivors in general.
Dave Dvorak/ddvorak@dailyherald.com
Rebecca Vasques, of Elmhurst, pauses to shoot a picture of a Mount Prospect police cruiser that was decked out in pink Saturday during the second day of the Chicago Breast Cancer Komen 3-Day Walk in Mount Prospect. Vasquez is walking for her mother, a breast cancer survivor.
Dave Dvorak/ddvorak@dailyherald.com
Mount Prospect Police Officer Greg Sill, left, hands a pink sweatband to Janet Nicholson, of Iowa City Iowa, during the second day of the Chicago Breast Cancer Komen 3-Day Walk in Mount Prospect on Saturday. Nicholson was walking in honor of her sister, who lost her battle with breast cancer.
Dave Dvorak/ddvorak@dailyherald.com