Kent State students, faculty and staff can join 20,000 other participants in the 13th annual Race for the Cure, a fundraising event for breast cancer on Oct. 14.

The 5K run/walk, organized by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, will take place at Voinovich Park in Cleveland.

Free transportation will be provided to and from the event, said Hilda Pettit, coordinator at the Women’s Resource Center.

Buses will leave Kent at 6:30 a.m. Students will return in time for Kent State Homecoming activities, she said.

Every two minutes, a woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer, Pettit said. Breast cancer incidence in women has increased from 1 in 20 in 1960 to 1 in 7 today, according to the American Cancer Society.

“Almost every woman is affected by breast cancer, and we all need to recognize that it is a risk,” Pettit said. “We should support the cause because we may need the support in the future.”

The Komen Foundation was named after Susan G. Komen, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1978 and died at the age of 36.

Before she passed away, Komen made her sister Nancy Brinker, the organization’s founder, promise to fight the disease.

The foundation holds fundraising events, including Race for the Cure, and grants money to local and national organizations for research.

“It is a celebration of people who have made it,” said Sarah Ashmore, affiliate administrator at the Komen Foundation. “Moms, sisters, aunts and daughters, everyone knows someone or knows about someone who has had breast cancer.”

Last year, Team Kent had about 125 members, Pettit said. Registration as a team member costs $20. Students can register as teams or individuals at the Women’s Resource Center or online at http://www.komenneohio.org. Team members must register online by Sept. 26.

For additional information, contact the Women’s Resource Center at (330) 672-9230.

Contact health and medical reporter Kira Meixner at [email protected].