More Than 13,000 Walk at VyStar Ballpark as Making Strides Raises About $390,000
Survivors, thrivers, caregivers and thousands of supporters turned out at VyStar Ballpark on Saturday morning for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk of the First Coast, raising roughly $390,000 for the American Cancer Society.
Jacksonville's biggest walk of the fall filled VyStar Ballpark on Saturday morning. More than 13,000 people turned out for this year's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk of the First Coast — a three-mile walk — and participants raised roughly $390,000 for breast cancer research and American Cancer Society programs, Action News Jax reported Saturday afternoon.
The walk, which began at 9 a.m. after gates opened at 8, brings together breast cancer survivors and thrivers, caregivers and their families — the American Cancer Society's largest breast cancer movement, with nearly 150 walks nationwide, according to the Ponte Vedra Recorder's preview of the event. The First Coast walk raised more than $340,000 in 2025 and had set a $400,000 goal for this year, the Recorder reported.
The money funds research and patient programs that reach back into Jacksonville, including the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation Hope Lodge of Jacksonville, which gives cancer patients and their caregivers a place to stay while they travel for treatment. The American Cancer Society estimates 24,700 women in Florida will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2026 and 3,360 will die from the disease — the stakes behind a Saturday morning sea of pink on the First Coast.
