By Danika Young | LTVN Reporter/Anchor
Bears for a Cure is a student organization that actively supports students and families in Waco who are battling cancer.
“Really, we are just reaching out into the community and just trying to connect both Waco and Baylor together,” Argyle senior and Bears for a Cure president Miranda Downe said.
Downe said Bears for a Cure is a support group for those who experience cancer in any aspect of their life, whether that be from personal experience, supporting a loved one or simply supporting in general.
“One of the main reasons I joined Bears for a Cure was because I am a stage four non-Hodgkins lymphoma cancer survivor,” Austin freshman and Bears for a Cure co-president Kade Kielian said.
Downe said she has been personally affected, which is why she joined the organization.
“Personally, I am affected by breast cancer in the biggest way,” Downe said. “My mom had stage 3B breast cancer when I was a baby, and my grandad had three primary types of cancer. I lost my ballet teacher to breast cancer. The list goes on, and it’s like really weird; I’ve just always been surrounded by cancer, so I just feel that God has placed that on my heart to support other people.”
Downe herself is also at risk for cancer.
“BRACA2 is a gene that runs in my family, which makes me extremely susceptible to developing cancer over time,” Downe said.
Bears for A Cure regularly participates in fundraisers and events on and off campus in order to assemble support and pursue a cure.
“We try to do something tangible against cancer because there’s not really much you can do if you’re fighting it,” Kielian said. “So supporting those people who are fighting it, remembering the fight you may have had or just having support for that and then reaching out to the Waco community and showing them that we support them … mostly just doing whatever we can for the fight against cancer.”
Bears for a Cure aspires to extend its support past Baylor’s campus into the Waco community.
The organization was originally called Relay for Life and solely focused on Baylor students. It has since transitioned into a smaller student group with monumental goals.
“We transitioned into an all-encompassing cancer awareness organization, so now we work with all different organizations,” Downe said.
