Comprised entirely of current and former patients from the NSMC Cancer Center, the team raised over $7,400 in 2008 alone. Over the years, not all of Beth Lee’s teammates have been well enough to walk the entire 6.2 mile route and some have been unable to walk at all, opting instead to travel in the “Survivor’s Trolley.” Still, an upbeat and supportive feeling always seems to permeate the air when the Living Proof team is around.

Beth Lee’s connection with the NSMC Cancer Center runs deep. In 1993, she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and received chemotherapy at NSMC Salem Hospital, shortly before the cancer center in Peabody opened. After her treatment was over, she was so grateful to be healthy again that she began volunteering at the NSMC Cancer Center. She is especially proud that the proceeds from the 2007–2009 WALKs will benefit the new cancer center in Danvers. She’s also pleased that the patient experience has been central to the design of the facility. Patients receiving chemotherapy will have an expansive view of neighboring wetlands. “From the plans I’ve seen, I know it’s going to be a lovely, healing place,” she added.