SALEM — When the North Shore Medical Center holds its 17th annual Cancer Walk, employees from OSRAM Sylvania facilities in Peabody and Danvers will be there, led by Sharon Clement.

Clement, a Danvers resident, is an OSRAM Sylvania employee and fulcrum for its Women’s Affinity Group, which has branches nationwide. As vice president of communications for the women’s group, she helps organize the company’s team n comprised of employees from two facilities in Danvers and one in Peabody.

Clement is a data-marketing manager in e-sales and customer integration at OSRAM Sylvania in Danvers. Asked about her experience at last year’s cancer walk, she said, "I was simply in awe of all the teams and their energy and it was much more emotional than I expected. And I don’t even know thousands of these people."

The medical center’s cancer walk on Sunday, June 24, is the largest single-day fundraising event on the North Shore, with thousands of participants involved from every quarter of life. It starts and ends at Salem Willows.

OSRAM Sylvania’s Women’s Affinity Group is based in Massachusetts but has members nationwide. It has signed on as a supporting sponsor of the 17th annual NSMC Cancer Walk. The sponsorship required a $5,000 minimum donation.

Not satisfied with their already substantial sponsorship donation, more than 30 members of the women’s group will also be trekking the 6.2-mile walk through historic Salem. The event is held rain or shine, and over the years the weather has ranged from broiling heat to icy rain.

Janet Zipes, who assists NSMC with event publicity, said the women’s group is "very special" because its members, in addition working at their jobs, "take time out to make a difference in the lives of cancer patients throughout the North Shore and beyond."

According to Zipes, the group’s fundraising goals are ambitious. Each walker must raise at least $100 and the overall goal is $5,000. "Every dollar raised will be matched by OSRAM Sylvania’s Women’s Affinity Group, which is above and beyond the $5,000 donation they made as sponsors," said Zipes, noting that 2007 marks the second year the women are walking as a team.

"This year’s team will be made up of several mother-daughter pairs and several men, including one who lost his mother to cancer just last year," Zipes said.

OSRAM Sylvania is perhaps best known for its energy efficient, spiral-shaped, compact fluorescent lamps, but the company also makes other lighting applications, from illuminating a Broadway state to an office photocopier.

For more information about the women’s group at OSRAM Sylvania, go here. For more on the Cancer Walk, to register or make a donation, go here.