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UST Graduate Takes Strides for Breast Cancer
7/15/2009
 Walking a total of 80 miles in her favorite Mizuno athletic shoes, University of St. Thomas graduate Theresa Warner has raised more than $4,000 for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer foundation.
Dr. Michele Simms’ hands-on MBA Business Ethics and Society class, which teaches students to become responsible members in the community, encouraged Warner to take her first steps with the organization.
Those few steps prompted Warner’s three-year commitment to support Avon’s breast cancer research fundraiser. In 2008 and 2009, Warner completed two 40-mile Avon walks in Houston, and plans to participate in another walk in Chicago in June 2010.
“Theresa impressed me because she entered the class reserved and seemingly detached,” Simms said. “Yet as the semester progressed, she became self-aware and invested in her projects.”
Her success earned her a nomination for the 2008 Greater Houston Business Ethics Roundtable Scholarship award. Warner graduated in May 2008 with her MBA, which made her ineligible to receive the award.
 “I always wanted to participate in a breast cancer walk, and the class gave me the push to finally do it,” Warner said. “Luckily nobody in my family has been affected by breast cancer; however the way I look at it is everyone knows someone or who has a loved one who has had breast cancer, so I walk for them.”
According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), 1 in 8 women in the United States will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. ACS recommends clinical breast exams as part of a periodic health examination about every three years for women in their 20s and 30s and also yearly mammograms and clinical breast exams as part of a periodic health exam starting at the age of 40.
Avon Walk for Breast Cancer is a weekend walk on Saturday and Sunday. Walkers travel up to 26.2 miles on Saturday and 13.1 miles on Sunday. Individuals can fundraise in teams, but each person needs the minimum of $1,800 to walk. The money raised by the walkers benefits the local cancer organizations and medical facilities with emphasis on reaching individuals with inadequate or no insurance and minorities and the elderly.
The first year was a struggle for Warner. She was more preoccupied with fundraising the $1,800 than training for the walk. Warner received fundraising help from her parents, who are also UST alumni, Ben Warner (1973) and Kathleen Warner (1974).
“The first year was rough, and I learned that training is key,” Warner said. “The momentum and drive of the other people walking helped me keep going and finish.”
 Warner combined mass emails, personal, hand-written letters and small and big events with raffles to raise the money for the 2008 and 2009 walks.
In 2009, two friends joined Warner, and as a team, they raised more than $6,000. Warner recruited two other friends for the Chicago team.
“I wanted something different for my third walk,” Warner said. “The walk is also a great way to see another city because you walk through city streets and busy intersections. It is a more intimate tour of Chicago.”
Shown at top, Theresa Warner at Mile 26 at the 2008 Avon Walk. Shown at Center, the finish line at the Avon Walk 2009 (left to right) Catherine Zeis and Theresa Warner. Shown above left to right: Stephanie Clark, Theresa Warner, Catherine Zeis and Jennifer Renaud.
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