The 5th Caminata Maspalomas Contra el cancer brought together people of all ages and nationalities on Saturday October 6th to recognise the start of International Breast cancer awareness month. The local town hall of San Bartolomé de Tirajana estimated more than 400 people in attendance, including many families, and individuals affected directly or indirectly by cancer.
Mayor Marco Aurelio Perez, along with several of the highest ranking members of his council once more attended the event, donating to the fund in exchange for a solidarity T-shirt and spoke a few words before the crowd headed off towards the Faro de Maspaloams lighthouse, winding their way via the Hospital San Roque, where refreshments were provided and a Bouganvillia plant, with flowers of the same bright pink colour identified with the cause, was presented for planting, heading down past the the hotel H10 Meloneras, the group, entertained by music and guided by Policia Local, Proctccion Civil and Policia National stopped once more at the RIU Palace Meloneras, who once again provided refreshments and two delightful artificial trees on to which participants could tie pink ribbons in remembrance of those who have lost their fight; a Bauhinia tree was presented there to the hotel’s manager, Frank, which once planted in the ground should within a year or so begin to flower with its large distinctive pink orchid-like blooms.
This year the event joined forces with The Long Walk, coast-to-coast across Gran Canaria, now in its 7th year, and the newly established Puerto Rico Walk, in order to pool resources, publicity and revenue generating activities. All three events this year have been celebrating Women, Fighters, Survivors & Families, with all the money raised being split between the Canarian Breast Cancer Association ACCMyG.org who provide support to breast cancer sufferers and their families and in Mogán The Food Project El Proyecto Vecinal de Alimentos de Mogán, Nabohjelpen, who work with families in need to overcome poverty and assist the survival of those struggling to feed themselves and their children, having slipped through the safety net with no one else to turn to. Both extraordinary causes.
