Chicago Teamsters Fight Breast Cancer in Record Numbers

Members Walk to Raise More Than $40K for Second Consecutive Year

Approximately 800 Teamsters showed their true colors—and a whole lot of pink—by walking in the 20th Anniversary Y-Me Race at Your Pace on Sunday, May 8, 2011. The Chicago-based Y-Me organization supports women, men and families nationwide currently affected by breast cancer.

“For the second year in a row, Teamster affiliates across the Chicago metropolitan area came together to raise more than $40,000 for this vital organization,” said John T. Coli, President of Teamsters Joint Council 25. “We don’t have to remind anyone of the importance of breast cancer awareness, and it’s so humbling to see the Teamsters express this level of support.”

More Teamster men and women than ever before descended on Chicago’s Grant Park for the three-mile walk and 5K run on Mother’s Day. Union members joined tens of thousands of other supporters on the sun-soaked day to embrace Y-Me, which supplies free wigs to patients and oversees a national hotline of breast cancer survivors available to lend support 365 days a year.

Among many other charitable endeavors, Joint Council 25 has actively supported the Y-Me organization for more than five years. With record-breaking participation and member support in 2011, the Teamsters have raised nearly a quarter-million dollars for the charity and seen nearly 2,500 members put their shoes to the ground in Grant Park.

“In 2010, more than 200,000 new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed throughout the United States,” said Coli. “This Mother’s Day, it was reassuring to know that no matter how challenging this disease becomes, the Teamsters’ outreach, donation and will to fight back are only getting stronger.”

For more information on the Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization or to make a donation, please visit www.y-me.org.

Teamsters Joint Council 25 represents more than 100,000 hardworking men and women throughout Illinois and Indiana.

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