Sam & Goldie: August 2010

Almost two years ago my boyfriend, Jon and I ventured out on what was certainly one of the biggest adventures of our lives to date. With a group of over forty other men and women we did the four day hike up Machu Picchu in Peru. That alone, would have been fantastic, but the fact that our journey helped to support an amazing cause made the trip that much more emotional, and important.

Months before our October 2008 trip we learned about the Love Hope Strength Foundation, an organization that was arranging musical journeys throughout the world in order to raise money and awareness for cancer. The cause struck a note in my heart because several members of my family had fought battles with cancer, and even with all the best treatment in the world at our fingertips, their battles were lost.

I began to think about the need for education, especially in rural areas of the world, where cancer often times kills silently, because people are completely unaware that they have it, and treatment centers are non-existent. I realized that through working with LHS we could raise money and awareness for much needed changes in these countries.

In the months leading up to our October trip Jon and I jointly raised $10,000. Our money directly funded the purchase of a mobile cancer unit, including a mammogram machine. The mobile unit visits rural areas of Peru screening for all types of cancer. The unit’s doctors and staff help to educate Peruvians about the signs of cancer, screening yourself, and how to get treatment.

Our four-day journey, as with all of the journeys Love Hope Strength continues to embark on, was used to bring awareness to our cause. The musicians who joined us on our trek played impromptu concerts on the mountain. (This attracted much attention from the Peruvian government because that was, in essence, taboo.) Once we reached the town of Aguas Calientes, our musicians again played a concert. The entire city came to watch, and the mayor even spoke to the crowd about the importance of the organization.

While sitting in the audience at the Aguas Calientes concert a small girl came and sat on my lap (pictured below). Maria watched the concert so intently and listened so closely to the mayor’s words, that I knew in that moment her life was forever changed. At the young age of four or five, Maria had learned about cancer. She had heard how to detect it, and that there were options for treatment. It is because of events like this and donations to the LHS Foundation, that men, women and children throughout the world are detecting and treating cancer before it is able to take their lives.

I believe spreading our knowledge about a deadly disease, and bringing treatment and education to some of the world’s most remote areas, is a very important and noble cause. This is why I have chosen to support LHS.

For every purchase made, Sam & Goldie will donate a portion to the Love Hope Strength Foundation. We all know someone who has been affected by this deadly disease, and by contributing to this organization we are preventing another person, and another family from having to go through the nightmare that is cancer.

For more information on the LHS Foundation please visit www.lovehopestrength.com

See below for some of my favorite images from this unforgettable journey.