When Kristy McElhinny started asking her colleagues in the Afton schools if they would sponsor her in a walk against cancer, she was not surprised everyone gave.

"What did surprise me was that every single person has a story. Everyone knows someone who has some form of cancer and everyone wants to do something to stop it," said McElhinny, a biology teacher and captain of a team of the Afton Teachers Association.

The Afton TA joined hundreds of NYSUT locals who raised money and awareness for the American Cancer Society this year. NYSUT has been a statewide sponsor for eight years. 

This year's theme is "Make a Difference. Make History. Make Strides." The non-competitive walks are the premier event for ACS, raising funds and awareness against all kinds of cancers.

Kidney cancer convinced two dozen of Pat Gollub's cosmetology students to come to Washington Park the morning after homecoming events.

"When we found out about a former student who had been diagnosed with kidney cancer and died at only 25 years old, the girls wanted to know what they could do," said Gollub, a member of the Capital Region BOCES Faculty Association. "The American Cancer Society is working to find cures, so we're here."

NYSUT Vice President Maria Neira oversees the union's Making Strides efforts. Weeks after the walks ended, Neira was proud to note that NYSUT members were on target to raise more than $1 million for the third year in a row.

"Research has helped doctors identify cancers at early stages and helped provide the treatment and recovery programs people need," Neira said. "But research takes dollars.

So we'll keep walking, and having bake sales and sporting events and selling necklaces, sponsoring dress-down days ... whatever it takes."

When Rena Sussman Silverman was first diagnosed with breast cancer, her treatments kept her from participating in a Strides walk. The 2009 walk in Manhattanville was the first chance the eight-year survivor found to participate.

"I loved it," said Silverman, vice president for adjunct faculty of the United College Employees local at the Fashion Institute of Technology. "If and when you are sick, I have found it is extremely important to have a lot of positive support. Do not become a victim.

Become an advocate. Take control and stay positive," Silverman said. "I think the walks truly celebrated a whole community of people who are survivors or who celebrate survivors."

As cancer touches so many people, the fight against it is no longer confined to one month. Even though the calendar says autumn, Darleen Philpotts has January on her mind as she plans the second annual Think Pink Volleyball night in the Sauquoit Valley schools.

"It was a huge success last year," said Philpotts, an SVTA member who teaches health and physical education. Not only did the event raise $800 in the rural community, it provided information about cancer's risk factors and mammography's benefits.

"There's so much people need to know," Philpotts said, noting she learned that early detection is key when her father was diagnosed with breast cancer years ago.

Janice Vogt began working on her local's efforts to raise funds during the summer. When she heard that baskets of items would be auctioned off at a summer training conference of Rochester and Jamestown area NYSUT leaders to raise funds for Strides, she put together a weekend getaway that raised over $200 in August.

"We're a small community, so we know the value of everyone working together," said the president of the 120-member Dansville Support Staff Association. "We have dress-down days for charity, and if everyone participates, we're able to get over $600."

Raising funds against cancer will continue for months for the Haskell family of Gansevoort.

Bill Haskell, a basketball coach and member of the Adirondack Community College Educational Support Personnel, walked with his wife, Barbara, in Albany in mid-October. He is also planning a yearly coaches vs. cancer event in early December. "It means a little more this year," he said, pointing to his wife.

"I always participated in these fundraisers before, never thinking I'd be a survivor," said Barbara. "I had no family history, but was diagnosed last September, and in October I celebrated my first anniversary of successful surgery."