Surveying a sea of pink at the Susan G. Komen North Texas Race for the Cure®, Tiffany Cotney was equally impressed by the display of other colors at the fund-raiser to fight breast cancer.
The 18th annual event on 7 June 2008 drew more than 12,000 runners and walkers to EDS' Plano, Texas headquarters, which provided much of the 5K's route and the venue for survivors' and awards ceremonies. Pink balloons, ribbons and banners waved in a light breeze.
Cotney, an EDS employee and three-year breast cancer survivor, was among more than 600 women sporting pink caps and T-shirts to signify their victories over the disease.
Julie Watkins (left) and DonaLeigh Engstrom, Team EDS co-captains, accept award for largest corporate team at Komen North Texas Race
“Like everyone else who is a survivor, I never wanted to wear that shirt – nobody does,” said Cotney, a member of EDS' Global Due Diligence Team. “But I am overwhelmed by all the people here who are not wearing pink shirts. They give us support and strength.”
Participants included Lisa Garner, who brought her husband and three children to her third Komen North Texas Race. Garner said the event exemplifies EDS' community spirit.
“I love participating in the race and supporting Susan G. Komen. It is just such a great organization and we've done a fantastic job as host,” said Garner, a Global Supply Chain Management business planning specialist. “That's just the EDS way. We do everything above and beyond the cause.”
In EDS' fourth year as a local presenting sponsor, the company was honored for organizing the largest corporate team – about 1,000 employees, family members, clients, vendors and other friends.
Co-captains DonaLeigh Engstrom, who overcame a breast cancer diagnosis in 2003, and Julie Watkins accepted the award. This year's Team EDS theme, “Stop the 1 in 8,” referred to the women affected by breast cancer in their lifetimes nationwide.
Tina Sivinski, EDS senior executive vice president and chief administrative officer, led the starting-line crowd in a greeting to 93½-year-old Winnie Leonhardt, North Texas' oldest breast cancer survivor, before officially beginning the 5K as executive sponsor.
The event has raised nearly $950,000 for the North Texas affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the foundation which supports breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment. Continuing contributions will be accepted through June 30.
The Komen foundation, which fields the world's largest series of 5K runs and fitness walks, is also supported by EDS through a five-year agreement for server management services. EDS sponsors Komen teams across the country and internationally, including Germany and Canada.
On the same day as the North Texas event, the EDS Eagles participated in the 19th annual Komen National Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C. Forty-two EDSers and family members joined nearly 50,000 other participants in helping to raise $4.9 million for area breast cancer research and community health programs for the medically underserved.
In the past eight years, EDS' Herndon, Va., and Washington-area employees have raised more than $125,000 through annual Komen events. They include the 8th Annual EDS Duck Race for the Cure fund-raiser May 15 at the company's Herndon administration building. Employees purchased ducks to race for prizes and participated in a silent auction, raising more than $21,000.
EDS Eagles team members at Komen National Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C.
EDS' representation at the Komen Detroit Race for the Cure doubled this year, with about 340 employees participating in the 17th annual event on May 31. An EDS family member, 13-year-old Promise Vos, won the women's 5K with a time of 19 minutes, 3 seconds.
Her grandmother's battle with breast cancer and athletic competition with three older sisters were motivational factors, said her father, Doug Vos, a system architect with Enterprise Service Management Service Strategy in Detroit.
“Promise remembers her grandma, who had survived the cancer for a number of years,” he said. “That was one of the things in the back of her mind. Subconsciously, she had a bunch of good reasons to run hard for that race.”
In Germany, EDS was recognized last year for the largest corporate team, with 190 employees. EDSers are preparing to equal or surpass that showing at the Komen Race for the Cure in Frankfurt on Sept. 28, said Ernst Dembowsky, team captain and European asset and procurement manager for EDS' GM Global Business Office.
A separate series of unaffiliated walks and runs benefiting breast cancer research in several Canadian cities also attracts annual participation by EDS employees. But the Dallas area is where it all began in 1983 with a Komen race and 800 participants.
“It's getting bigger and better very year,” said Mark Daus, whose wife Kathy is a business consultant for the EDS Healthcare Web Portal Project. “There's plenty of momentum behind it.”