‘Team Kat’ leading Susan G. Komen fund-raising parade

St. Martin Parish’s Kat Caillier has been named 2015 Race for the Cure Honoree and will be the Team New Balance Honorary Member for the Susan G. Komen Acadiana Race for the Cure, Saturday, March 21, in Downtown Lafayette.
Caillier was selected as an honoree for her personal perseverance against breast cancer and her dedication to raising breast cancer awareness.
“By participating in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Caillier and her team members across the country are an inspiration to us all,” said Rob DeMartini CEO of New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc.
“New Balance is proud of our 23-year association with Susan G. Komen. As a company, New Balance is dedicated to promoting physical fitness and healthy lifestyles as a way to reduce the risk of breast cancer.”
Kat Caillier is a six year survivor, a mother of three children and a grandmother of five. Four years ago, Kat Caillier’s family got together, decided to form a team and raise money in her honor. On race day Kat’s family surprised her with over 30 team members and more than $3,000 raised in her honor.
“I cried through that entire race,” she said.
This past year, while attending a team captain’s meeting, Kat and her daughter Dawn, learned the importance of participants raising funds to create a larger impact in their community. After that meeting Dawn and Kat decided they would do more to raise funds for their team. Caillier put together a football pool where they raised $1,500. This ignited them to think of more ways to fund-raise.
Caillier and her Race Team then created “Rai$ing Mud for the Cure.” In Breaux Bridge, Louisiana on March 8, 2014 there were over 900 people mudding in all-terrian vehicles for the cure and raised $15,000. Still, their goal grew, after participating in team tailgate area, cooking pork fricassee and had 52 team members; their team ended their team fund-raising amount at $20,500.
Kat Caillier and her team makes fund-raising fun! They do it together as a family and they are challenging others to make an impact in their community. Caillier has set a goal for the 2015 Race for the Cure: $30,000 and have challenged other family teams and corporations alike. They have already hosted a Superbowl pool, hunting pools, and a Comedy Night. Their Rai$ing Mud for the Cure will be held March 7th.
Caillier and her friends don’t stop at fund-raising. They attend advocacy day at the Capital to advocate on behalf of state and federal funding for breast health services, they have helped with educational events to bring awareness to our communities and volunteer time on a regular basis in the Komen Acadiana office helping with day to day activities.
Komen Acadiana invites the public to Race for the Cure, on March 21 in Downtown Alexandria, as Caillier and over 200 local survivors will remember their journey and celebrate the future. Like the other survivors in our community, Caillier is an inspiration to us all.
Komen Acadiana’s vision is a world without breast cancer. Their promise is to save lives and end breast cancer forever by empowering people, ensuring quality of care for all, and energizing science to find the cures.