On May 15th, AGA Cleveland participated in the annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event in downtown Cleveland. For the third year in a row, members of AGA Cleveland helped raise money for breast cancer awareness. Melissa West, Eric West, Leah Huth, Kenneth Kuss, Shelley Bloom, Joyce Dover, Angelica Fraticelli, Shaina Gogol, Bethany Haupt, Elizabeth Ladiha, Ashley Shipman, Adrienne Stewart, Robin Vanco and Linnea Woolley raised money for this year’s Making Strides fund raiser. The day’s events began at Progressive Field, as participants gathered together for stretching, dancing and light refreshments before the walk. Participants took their first lap around the baseball field, and continued walking throughout the downtown Cleveland area. A brisk walk past the Cleveland Browns stadium led the participants back toward the finish line, and the 5k event was more than halfway complete.

AGA Cleveland would like to say a special thank you to Shaina Gogol, Ashley Shipman and Angelica Fraticelli. At a special fund raiser organized by the ladies before the May 15 ^th event, Shaina, Ashley and Angelica raised over $1,200 to contribute toward the team’s fund raising efforts. Altogether, team AGA Cleveland raised over $2,300 and was ranked among the top 5 fund raising companies for the entire event.

The Making Strides walk marked the last community service event for the AGA Cleveland 2009-2010 program year. Community service co-chairs Melissa West and Kenneth Kuss would like to thank the volunteers that contributed countless hours of their time throughout the year to give back to the greater Cleveland area. Together, AGA Cleveland served several organizations, including the Make A Wish Foundation, American Diabetes Association, Louis Stokes Veteran’s Affairs Hospital, United States Marine Corps Reserve Unit, inner-city Cleveland schools, Momentum Christian Church, Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital, American Cancer Society, Save the Children, Cleveland Housing Network, and Golden Strings. Melissa and Kenneth will continue to serve the community in their spare time, but will hand over the reigns to Kristin Keller for the 2011 program year.