October 28, 2025

Hughson High School Life of a Husky Leadership Class hosted their fifth Breast Cancer Awareness Walk on a cloudy Saturday. Over the years, participation ranged from 100 to 150 students.

The Breast Cancer Awareness Walk/Run was first initiated by the Life of a Husky Leadership Class in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Faced with the struggle of being away from school and the strange new normal of COVID-19, Life of a Husky students worked together to create an event that could bring the community and students together for a single cause. The Breast Cancer Run/Walk has been proudly going on ever since.

The Hughson Volunteer Firefighters Association started the Hughson Firefighters Breast Cancer Fund in 2019. It provides direct financial aid to individuals and those affected by cancer in the Hughson community. Once an individual or family is identified as in need, the Firefighters Association votes to determine the amount to donate to that individual or family.

Last year, Life of a Husky raised $1500 for the Breast Cancer Fund, benefiting Hughson families.

The walk began at 9 a.m. on October 25 at Centennial Park, where Seventh Street and Hughson Avenue intersect. Before the walk, Life of a Husky students and community participants signed in at a table and tent decorated with pink balloons, and had the opportunity to purchase coffee from Agora Coffee Bar and mini pancakes from Jo Jo’s Flippin' Mini Pancakes.

Hughson High School student Jonathan Ruiz, with his mom, Daisy Ruiz, owner of Flippin' Mini Pancakes, sold the sweet dessert with toppings before the walk. For Daisy, being present at the event is personal. In 2018, her sister Sandy died from breast cancer, and her sister Letty is a survivor of a 2020 breast cancer diagnosis. All money earned from the pancakes will be donated to the fund.

Among the 149 participants was Amanda Hall with her husband, James, and her daughters, Hughson students Evelyn and Bella. Hall is also a breast cancer survivor, diagnosed with stage 4 cancer 10 years ago. Participating in the walk felt, for her, like a time to reflect on what she has been through. “It's a sisterhood no one wants to be part of,” Hall said.

Hall said she would like to move on and think about it less, but she sees the value in “stopping to smell the roses” and taking stock of what she had been through.

Raising awareness matters, Hall explained, because while there have been advancements, there is still much that is overlooked in breast cancer research, diagnosis and treatment.

The annual walk is free for anyone who wants to participate. For a $20 donation, participants received the 2025 t-shirt from the Hughson Volunteer Firefighters Association, in black and pink with the words “Support the Fighters.”

Twenty-eight LOH students helped make the event happen. Walkers traveled down Hughson Avenue, meeting checkpoints throughout the two-mile route that avoided construction on the sidewalks.

By the end of the morning, Life of a Husky raised $1700 to support Hughson’s families facing cancer.