Organizers expected about 9,000 people to turn out Saturday morning for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in Daytona Beach, a noncompetitive 5K that started at Riverfront Esplanade and wound less than three miles through downtown, including a crossing of the International Speedway Bridge. Thousands came carrying more than water bottles and pink ribbons — many walked in memory of mothers, sisters, and granddaughters lost to the disease, and in honor of those who beat it.
A $325,000 Goal and a Longtime Sponsor
The event, organized by Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of Volusia Flagler, set a fundraising goal of $325,000 for the American Cancer Society this year, according to bradenton.com. It was one of roughly 150 Making Strides walks held nationwide annually, the outlet reported. Festivities were scheduled to begin at 7 a.m., with the walk itself starting two hours later, according to the official event page, which lists Politis and Matovina P.A. as the walk's presenting sponsor.
That sponsorship has deep roots. Attorney Michael Politis said his firm has presented the Daytona Beach event for 21 years, according to the Miami Herald. Politis said the walk raised $300,000 the previous year and said he hoped this year's event would bring in $400,000 — well above the official $325,000 goal listed on the event page.
Walking in Memory, Walking for Hope
Among the thousands at Riverfront Esplanade was Lillian Vandyke, a two-time breast cancer survivor who had flown back from Tampa just a day earlier, after attending the funeral of her 38-year-old granddaughter, Latoya Renee Walker, who died of breast cancer. Vandyke said her granddaughter never got a mammogram, the Miami Herald reported — a detail that hung heavy over her participation in the walk less than 24 hours later.
Trista King walked in honor of her sister, Toni Charles, who died of breast cancer in 2019. Joe Mickol, who belongs to Daytona Beach Moose Lodge 1263 in Ormond Beach along with fellow walker Judy Hupp, said he and others return to the walk every single year, per the same report. Hupp has raised $90,000 for the event over time through fundraisers held at the Ormond Beach lodge.
Support Beyond the Finish Line
Cynthia Georges, who works at AdventHealth Daytona Beach Cancer Institute, said cancer patients need support both at work and outside of it, the paper noted. A Halifax Health group called Cancer Busters showed up dressed in Ghostbusters-style uniforms with pink accents, adding a burst of costume-party energy fitting for a walk held on Halloween morning.
Jennifer Pelludat, a cancer navigator at Halifax Health Cancer Center for Hope, urged people to get screened so cancer can be caught early, saying that catching it sooner reduces the treatment someone ultimately needs. Pelludat said navigators like her guide patients from diagnosis all the way through survivorship, offering a steady hand through a process that can otherwise feel overwhelming.
National Breast Cancer Estimates
The Daytona Beach walk is a local chapter of a much larger fight. The American Cancer Society estimates 321,910 women and 2,670 men will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer nationwide in 2026, alongside 60,730 cases of ductal carcinoma in situ, according to the organization's 2026 Cancer Facts and Figures report.
Florida Events Pile Up Millions
Daytona Beach's walk joined a string of Making Strides events across Florida this fall. More than 13,000 people turned out for a three-mile walk at VyStar Ballpark in downtown Jacksonville, which started at Georgia and Duval streets and raised roughly $390,000, according to Action News Jax.
In South Florida, about 10,000 people attended an Oct. 24 walk at LoanDepot Park in Miami that raised more than $800,000, pushing the combined total from Miami-area walks past $1.5 million, WSVN reported. A separate walk at Sunrise's Amerant Bank Arena on Oct. 17 brought in $700,000.
