When she received a phone call from Montana and learned
that her dear friend had breast cancer in 2003, Betty Brown-Chappell's
can-do attitude kicked in.
"She wouldn't let me come to help," Brown-Chappell, an
Eastern Michigan University professor of social work, said
of her friend, Joyce Brown's reaction. "But, I needed to
do something."
 |
COLLAGE FOR THE CAUSE: Betty Brown-
Chappell,
an Eastern Michigan University
professor of social
work, put together this
collage to note her experience
at the 2007
Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. Brown-
Chappell is
pictured in the middle next to
her husband, Michael;
posing with fellow
walkers (bottom left); and finishing
the
walk (bottom right).
|
Around that time, Brown-Chappell noticed posters for the
Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, a series of walks sponsored
by the beauty supply company to raise funds for and awareness
of the illness across the United States.
Armed with information about the walk, Brown-Chappell
sought out sponsors and began training for the 60-mile
walk from Ann Arbor to Farmington Hills, Mich. Since then,
Brown-Chappell and her husband, Michael J. Chappell, a
1971 EMU graduate, have participated in walks from Los
Angeles to New York City, raising an estimated $11,000
for the charity so close to her heart.
"I have a large feeling of gratitude that I'm not part
of the problem," said Brown-Chappell, who lost her aunt,
Goldie Hawkins, to the disease. "I'm part of the solution... and
so are the people who helped me do this with their donations."
Last month, Brown-Chappell and her husband were two of
3,900 participants in the New York City walk, which garnered
the foundation a record $10.2 million.
Brown-Chappell said the vast majority of her sponsors
come from individual donors within the College of Health
and Human Services.
"We're very proud to say that 85 percent of our sponsorship
comes from the Eastern Michigan University community," said
Brown-Chappell, who hosts post-walk celebrations each year
to thank her benefactors. "I want them to know that I appreciate
their support and that their hard-earned money really does
go for a good cause."
To prepare for walks, which range from 40 to 60 miles
each, Brown begins training in the fall. Her routine includes
lifting weights, doing aerobics and walking several miles,
three to four times per week, during the fall and winter.
When the cold weather breaks in
springtime, she increases the distance and frequency, often
walking up to 40 miles per week as events draw near. Brown-Chappell,
who doesn't use a treadmill, trains outdoors, in malls
and gyms, through parks and along city streets.
In her last four Avon walks (Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles
and New York), Brown-Chappell has totaled nearly 200 miles.
The effort has become more than a philanthropic effort,
according to Brown-Chappell; it's become a lifestyle. For
their 60th birthdays, Brown-Chappell and her husband asked
for only one gift — donations to the Avon Foundation,
which sponsors the Walk for Breast Cancer.
"We've all been touched by cancer in one form or another.
It's personally satisfying to work toward finding a way
to end this terrible disease."
