After losing her mother, Candace, to breast cancer, Olivia Achtmeyer founded an annual event to honor her mother and others who suffer from this disease. Now in its fourth year, “Runway for Recovery” — a fashion show, silent auction and raffle inspires ardent support in Olivia’s home town, Concord, Mass.
Students at Middlesex School, where Olivia is a teacher, help her set up the show. Local shops donate outfits and merchandise. Drawing hundreds of participants, the evening raises funds for the Patient and Caregiver Fund of the Mass General Cancer Center. Overseen by Jack Erban, MD, who cared for Candace, the fund sponsors programs that help patients and their families cope with breast cancer.
Olivia’s event also raises spirits. Models include patients as well as individuals honoring those who have succumbed to breast cancer. Each step they take on the runway celebrates lost loved ones as well as survivors.
The models are the stars of Olivia’s event, which engages them in presenting their personal best to their community. Olivia’s commitment to patients and loved ones inspires an evening that is itself a form of affirmation and recovery.
