#RunCancerRun
(NCCF Blog Post – November, 2020)
Political strife, differing religious beliefs, racism, wildfires, poverty, hurricanes, and COVID-19 . . .
2020 has certainly gone above and beyond to earn its place in our history books, for better or for worse.
For many of us, social media has been the easiest and most productive way to stay connected with our family, friends, and the world around us this year. Telemedicine, virtual classrooms, online concerts, online shopping with curbside pick-up, and video chats have become commonplace. Regardless of where technology has brought us, it hasn’t quelled our desire for human contact, that “in-person connection” that we cannot obtain through a computer screen. As a whole, we have become more frustrated and sometimes more opinionated, with nowhere significant to vent those frustrations other than on the various social media platforms.
Over the last several months, as you are scrolling through your social media platform of choice, you may have noticed more and more frustrated posts about COVID-19, politics, and discrimination, just to name a few.
On a personal level, reading about people criticizing and verbally attacking one another has been emotionally draining. Scrolling through social media is no longer fun. Therefore, it has been emotionally difficult to add fuel to the social media “fire” by posting information about canine cancer!
With everything going on in the world around us, who really wants another “sad” thing to think or talk about? Who really has the time to worry about it? Who really has the financial resources to support campaigns about it?
These were the questions that were rolling around in my head this summer. While the rest of the world has been occupied with worrying about all of the newsworthy situations that I have already mentioned, I have still been – right or wrong – focusing on canine cancer awareness and education. Perhaps the reasoning behind that is because it is one of the few things that I can “control” in my life . . . that I can contribute to others. I certainly cannot control COVID-19, and I certainly cannot control other people’s beliefs about politics, religion, and other things. Nor would I want to. However, I can provide people with accurate and valuable information about canine cancer. That is what I am passionate about.
Because cancer doesn’t rest for anyone or anything, I realized that I couldn’t rest, either. This information still needed to reach people, regardless of anything else going on in the world. A family overwhelmed or frustrated by politics, COVID-19, and other national or world problems would not be in a better emotional position if their beloved dog developed lymphoma (or another form of cancer) and they had no idea where to turn to for reliable information on the subject. I knew that continuing to raise awareness for and share educational information about canine cancer was still important.
My heart was very heavy this past spring when I realized that there was a very slim chance that Paws4Potter would be able to host what would have been its 5th annual “Making A Mark On K9 Cancer” dog walk in September. The uncertainty of COVID-19 at that time was making it extremely difficult to plan an in-person event, an event that usually included dog-related vendors and food for participants. This dog walk has always been extremely important to me, not only because it brings people in my local community together to get the word out about canine cancer and to honor and remember those dogs who have been affected by cancer, but also because it signifies how Paws4Potter actually started. When I lost my soul dog, Potter, to cancer in 2015, I found solace in what the National Canine Cancer Foundation (NCCF) stood for, what it was accomplishing, and how supportive its members and followers were. I wanted to do something for the NCCF in memory of Potter, so I set out in 2016 to host a small dog walk to raise awareness for canine cancer and to raise money for the NCCF.
So much has blossomed from that first small dog walk in Watertown, NY in 2016. I never expected that, 4 years later, Paws4Potter would have a roster of over 20 committed volunteers, would have achieved 501c3 nonprofit status, and would have traveled all over New York state, raising awareness for all pet cancer at different events.
No matter how many successful events that I have been a part of because of this small organization, my heart still has the most passion for this small dog walk that I first envisioned and hosted in 2016. The people that took a chance on me and registered for that first dog walk are still strong supporters of Paws4Potter 4 years later. I never imagined the amazing support that Paws4Potter and I were given that year and every year since then. It has been an incredibly humbling and beautiful experience for me.
You can imagine, then, how saddened I was in the springtime when I realized that I was likely going to have to cancel this event . . . this event that brought all of the Paws4Potter volunteers together each year, this event that brought, at least in my mind, significant awareness to our local community about canine cancer. As much as I hoped that COVID-19 wouldn’t be as much of an issue by the time autumn came, I knew that I couldn’t spend 4 months planning this event only to cancel it at the last moment. How was I going to raise awareness for canine cancer for the remainder of this year? How was I going to keep honoring Potter, my very best friend in the whole world?
My frustration over having to cancel Paws4Potter’s 5th annual dog walk turned to quiet optimism when I came across an ad on Facebook for a virtual dog 5K open to the general public. I don’t even recall now what organization it was benefiting or how it was being organized by its creators. But, it definitely sparked within my mind a bunch of ideas for adapting our annual dog walk into a virtual one.
Late this spring, I officially decided to create #RunCancerRun, a virtual dog walk event to accommodate the ever-changing environment that COVID-19 has fashioned for us this year. I in no way wanted to call it the same thing as our regular in-person dog walk because I knew that it wouldn’t be the same thing. I only hoped that it would still accomplish the same things that our regular in-person dog walk aimed for: raising awareness for canine cancer, honoring current canine cancer warriors, remembering past canine cancer warriors, developing a sense of camaraderie among participants, and raising money for the National Canine Cancer Foundation.
As I write this in mid-October, the #RunCancerRun2020 Virtual Dog Walk has officially been “over” for approximately 3 weeks. I do feel that it accomplished all of the things that I had hoped it would. It wasn’t the same as our regular in-person dog walk, but I knew that when I created it, so there weren’t feelings of disappointment or let-down during the virtual event. Yes, I was sad that I couldn’t spend time in-person with all of the Paws4Potter volunteers and couldn’t pet all of the amazing and beautiful dogs and puppies who registered for the event. I couldn’t share an actual, physical memorial board of photos of canine cancer warriors with all of the participants. I couldn’t physically hug the people that have been emotionally affected by canine cancer.
But, I did realize that a very tall glass of sweet lemonade was made from what I presumed would be a “lemon” of an event. I had no idea the level of camaraderie and support that this virtual event would generate among its participants! People were sharing stories of their own canine cancer warriors – past and present – and showing interest and support for others. There were so many amazing photos that were shared during this two-week event, and participants were posting information about canine cancer on Facebook and Instagram to raise even more awareness for canine cancer to people that they knew! Even though we couldn’t physically be together for this event, it truly felt like a close-knit group, so close that I made the decision to keep the Facebook group for the event open so that people could remain in touch with one another and post additional photos down the road if they would like to. And, what I couldn’t do with our regular in-person dog walk that I could do with the virtual version was to reach people about canine cancer awareness outside of my community. Our event reached 23 states and 3 countries (including the USA) this year, something that continues to boggle my mind. Spreading awareness for and education about canine cancer are two very important parts of Paws4Potter’s mission, and, despite the trials that COVID-19 has brought to all of us in 2020, we are still accomplishing this mission, little by little.
So, where am I going with all of this? Well, I wanted to share with all of you that we can persevere no matter what curveball gets thrown our way. We may strike out a few times, and that’s okay. We may connect and hit a home-run or we may connect and achieve a base-hit. Either way, we are achieving something . . . something more than we had previously. Our virtual dog walk may not have been what I was envisioning for 2020, but it certainly did achieve something. And, maybe, just maybe, it achieved more than I ever would have hoped for.
I still cringe at the thought of giving people more “tough stuff” to think about right now. 2020 has brought with it more than enough “tough stuff” all on its own. But, I am more frightened over the possibility that a family’s beloved dog didn’t receive the cancer care that it needed quickly enough because that family didn’t know what signs and symptoms to look for in the first place. I am more frightened over the possibility that a family’s beloved dog didn’t receive the cancer care that it needed because that family didn’t know that there were options for treatment, that cancer was just considered a death sentence. I am more frightened over the possibility that a family’s beloved dog didn’t receive the cancer care that it needed because that family didn’t know that there were organizations that they could reach out to for financial assistance.
So, I am still posting information on social media. I am still trying to reach out to more and more people that cancer does exist in our pet population, that early cancer detection is extremely important, that treatment options do exist, and that cancer does not necessarily have to mean a death sentence!
And, when we reach more people like yourself, who have a passion for canine cancer awareness, we hope that you will continue to share that awareness with others!
November, the month that this blog post comes out, just happens to be National Pet Cancer Awareness Month. You can help the National Canine Cancer Foundation with spreading awareness for canine cancer by posting on social media with the hashtags #togetherwearethecure and #nationalcaninecancerfoundation.
And, if you are looking for some positivity amidst the sea of social media strife, go up to the search bar on Facebook and Instagram and type in #runcancerrun or #runcancerrun2020 and be immersed in all of the fun and amazing photos of happy dogs going for walks (or taking naps after their walks)!
No matter what curveballs come our way, we will keep raising awareness for and education about canine cancer. We are going to keep cancer on the run!
#RunCancerRun