Dorothy Johnson will share her indomitable spirit with an estimated 1,000 fellow walkers on Sunday for the Cancer Support Center’s 21st annual Walk of Hope.
Registration starts at 9 a.m. at Homewood’s Irwin Park. The Survivor Celebration and awards program starts at 10 a.m. and the walk kicks off at 10:30 a.m. Walkers can choose 1-, 3- or 5-miles routes.
Walking to raise funds for the free services the Cancer Support Center offers cancer patients and their families is Johnson’s way of giving back in thanks for all the staff and volunteers did for her.
Johnson’s Faith Walkers team started with 21 supporters six years ago after she completed her last breast cancer treatment. Every year the team got bigger. Last year, Johnson had nearly 100 people on the Faith Walkers team. It raised the most money on the walk.
Johnson, who is cancer free, says she looked at the Cancer Support Center, 2028 Elm Rd., Homewood, every day when she’d be on her way to work at Homewood’s Village Hall. She remembers saying a prayer each morning for those who would walk through the center’s doors.
Maybe it was a sign.
“God had prepared me for walking through those doors myself,” she says. “I found out about the caring people there. It was like a home away from home. I had consultations with a counselor and I got involved mainly with the support groups.”
She still is active at the center participating in a Survivors Program and the Chicago Sisters Network Chapter each month. Johnson also serves on the center’s Participant Community Foundation working with others to broaden how services are delivered.
She was excited to serve as the Cancer Support Center ambassador accepting a Bears Care Foundation check presented by the Chicago Bears.
“I never thought I’d get to Halas Hall,” she says.
When Johnson decided she couldn’t chair the Faith Walkers team, she retired the name and passed the torch on to her supporters. They will now march, with Johnson, under the banner Walkers of Faith. Their goal is the same: continued support for Johnson and those who use the Cancer Support Center.
To learn how you can participate or make a donation to support the Walk of Hope, contact the Cancer Support Center at 708-798-9171.
Photo provided by the Cancer Support Center.