Circle of Hope run/walk event held on Saturday morning to support breast cancer patients 

Runners and walkers came out to Castaic Lake Saturday morning for Circle of Hope’s 10th annual “Run For Their Lives” fundraiser event.

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The event took place from 7:30 a.m to 2 p.m. and brought in approximately $7,000 dollars for Circle of Hope from the 1K run, 5K run and 5K walk.

Jill Bondy, President of Circle of Hope, said the organization had several forms of entertainment for attendees and used all proceeds to help those fighting breast cancer in Santa Clarita.

“Hart High School sang the national anthem this morning and we have a kids fun zone, car show, food trucks and vendors at the event today,” Bondy said. “We are here to raise money for Santa Clarita clients who can not afford medication, doctors, chemotherapy and radiation.”

The event was expected to host 150 to 200 people, Bondy said.

Ray Tippet, Executive Director for the Circle of Hope, cheered on participants running by, and said the organization hosts the run to help Santa Clarita residents struggling with medical bills related to breast cancer.

“97% of our money coming in goes directly to clients because of our volunteer staff and low overhead costs,” Tippet said. “There is a huge debt [for those with breast cancer] and even if you have insurance you can still be responsible for 20% of the bill.”

Tippet said these events allow the organization to continue helping their 16 current clients, and future clients, overcome the financial burden of breast cancer, but he expressed concern over a low turnout.

“We give up to $10,000 to each client but there can sometimes be $200,000 savings because we are able to negotiate bills of $200,000 down to $10,000 overall,” Tippet said. “We need to get the community engaged because if they don’t engage we don’t have any where to go but close our doors.”

Linda Petria, a breast cancer survivor and attendee of the run/walk, said Circle of Hope provided invaluable help at a time when she was unsure how to handle the financial costs of treatment.

“When you get the diagnosis you are so sick you don’t know what you are going to do,” Petria said. “Circle of Hope comes and says we will pay this bill and this bill, and what else can we do for you? We need people to recognize and support all the great work [Circle of Hope] does to help people.”

The Circle of Hope will be holding several more fundraisers throughout the year including the “Vine 2 Wine Classic” on Aug. 16 at CalArts and “Afternoon Tea” on Oct. 11.

For those interested in future Circle of Hope events, visit their website, here.

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