SOMERTON, Arizona.- Once again the Josefina Yepez Cancer Walkathon planning committee is inviting the south Yuma county community to join them as they will celebrate the 16th annual event on Saturday, November 26th, 2022.
The event is held every year since 2007 to raise funds for cancer awareness and support for families in Yuma County, Arizona.
“With your kind efforts and support we can help those in our community make their fight against cancer a little easier”, said Jose Yepez, son of late Ms. Josefina Yepez.
The “Caminata,” Spanish for walkathon, brings communities together to help families struggling with cancer. The «Caminata» consist of 6.4 plus miles and ends in Somerton with music, food, information booths and fun activities for kids.
The «Caminata» is so named in honor of Josefina Yepez, Mama Fina, as she was lovingly called. She was a Somerton resident of over 40 years, and a migrant farmworker; picking citrus in the Yuma winter and traveling to work in the fertile fields of the California San Joaquin Valley in the summer. She was a breast cancer survivor of 16 years but unfortunately succumbed to bone cancer quietly taking over her, but not her winning spirit. She endured long hours of hardship during her many trips from Somerton to Tucson to obtain cancer treatment.
The family learned from this experience that lodging, meals, transportation, and basic supportive medical equipment can prove to be very costly but necessary to maintain basic quality of life. With help of friends and family members it was determined to initiate an event to help families going through similar grief.
In 2007, 100 residents participated in our first Josefina Yepez Cancer Walkathon. Last year the «Caminata» brought 400 committed residents willing to make a difference in other people’s lives. With your assistance the Josefina Yepez «Caminata» will continue to provide basic necessities to even more families as they cope with the challenges of cancer.
For more information about how to participate, cost of registration and more, please visit https://www.jycwalk.com/.