NEW MILFORD — Three of Lisa Arasim’s best friends — all seemingly the epitome of good health –were diagnosed with breast cancer last year.
Arasim, the 43-year-old mother of three young girls — Hannah, 8, Emily, 7 and Olivia, 4 — was daunted by the realities that one out of every seven women is diagnosed with the disease in their lifetime family history and good health often playing no role one way or another. The one common denominator for her friends was that they were able to even their odds against the disease as it was caught early each with a strong prognosis for survival after early treatment. Inspired by her friends, Arasim decided this was not their fight alone. She wanted to do something to promote early detection vigilance in other women. So she participated with one of her friends, breast cancer survivor Marianne Colacray, in the Susan G. Komen 5K Race for the Cure in Boston in September. Yet she still longed to do something closer to home. She opted to organize a team, “New Milford Cares,” for the Susan G. Komen 5K Race for the Cure to be held in Bushnell Park in Hartford on June 6.
So far, Arasim said several area businesses have pledged their financial support and she has a few people who have offered to join her team, including a neighbor who was diagnosed with breast cancer last year.