About Breath of Hope
The San Diego Breath of Hope Lung Cancer 5K Walk, benefiting Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health, was founded by three San Diego natives — lung cancer survivor Kathleen Larson and the late Maria Diaz Enriquez and Mike Stevens — and their spouses, Cipi Enriquez, Bill Larson and Sue Stevens.
In 2007, Maria, Kathleen and Mike attended a lung cancer walk in the Manhattan Beach area. The experience and the community support inspired them to plan a walk of their own in San Diego. With the help of Karl and Linda Schwenkmeyer, a lung cancer survivor herself, this small group got to work organizing the first lung cancer walk in San Diego. Linda lost her battle a month before the event, but her friends and family walked in her honor at the first ever walk in March 2009.
Over the years, the Breath of Hope 5K has continued to grow. To date, this event has provided more than $860,000 to lung cancer research. In addition, the lung cancer community in San Diego has provided compassionate support for people facing a lung cancer diagnosis and helped raise awareness of lung cancer here in San Diego. The Breath of Hope 5K continues to be a positive event that helps celebrate the lives of survivors and honor those lost to this disease.
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