Local man to swim for breast cancer awareness

Orcas Island resident and photojournalist Damien Stark will swim a 19.5-mile route from the Anacortes ferry terminal to Orcas Island and then Orcas Island to San Juan Island over the weekend of July 26 and 27 to raise awareness and funds for the Breast Cancer Treatment Support Mission Project.

This San Juan County Health and Community Service, funded by the Susan G. Komen For The Cure Foundation (Puget Sound Affiliate, wwww.komen.org) since 2002, provides travel cost support in the form of ferry tickets, and gas and mileage reimbursement to San Juan County residents with breast cancer seeking diagnostic or treatment services on the mainland.

During 2007, with the assistance of the Komen Foundation, the Breast Cancer Treatment Support Mission Project served 29 San Juan County-based women by covering $20,000 in travel expenses. Stark would like for more women to have access to this support, which is the impetus for his swim (and symbolically follows the same water route the women undertake when traveling to the mainland for breast cancer treatment). Fundraising and awareness efforts are well underway, with an informational website and online donation opportunities in place (www.breastcancerswim.com), plus donation sites set up at Key Banks located on Orcas and San Juan Islands. One hundred percent of the monies raised from the swim will directly support the important and essential services provided by the Breast Cancer Treatment Support Mission Project.

In 1999, while living in San Francisco and working as a photojournalist and EMT, Stark cared for a good friend who had leukemia and eventually passed away. Stark’s goal to swim to raise funds for The Breast Cancer Treatment Support Mission Project is his gift to those with breast cancer.

“It’s my hope that this swim may inspire others to do something for someone else. It doesn’t matter for what cause, or even how much is raised,” said Stark.

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