PHOTO BY JOHN LARSON

From left to right, Michelle Bellue, organizer of the Tribe’s team, Alissa Varbel and Tribal Councilmember David Z. Bean are among those who will participate.

Team to walk for breast cancer

By Meghan Erkkinen

Ten Puyallup Tribal members will be walking 60 miles to raise money and awareness for breast cancer.

The team is participating in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day, a walking event through Seattle, held this year Sept. 12-14. The Puyallup Tribal Council has agreed to sponsor the team for a total of $22,000 – $2,200 per participant, the minimum amount every walker must raise to participate.

This is the second year Tribal member Michelle Bellue will participate in the event. For her, the cause is very personal.

“For me it really touches home,” she said. “I had an aunt pass away from breast cancer and I have three other aunts who are survivors.”

Michelle Bellue’s goal this year is to help raise awareness among her fellow Native Americans and push them to take preventative measures by doing self-testing and having regular mammograms.

“For me, growing up you didn’t talk about those things, and nowadays you have to,” she said. “There’s so much available to us these days. I hope to bring more attention to the matter within the Tribe.”

While last year it was her aunt’s recent death that inspired her to participate, this year she’s doing it for this larger cause.

“Last year the walk I did was for me; it was a personal walk, it was about my aunt,” she said. “Now it’s more

than just that. It is about all the other tribal members also.”

Michelle Bellue and her team are also trying to get other tribal members involved. Councilmember James Miles will be transporting volunteers to and from the event to be part of a cheering section, complete with matching T-shirts and inspirational signs to support the walkers.

Tribal members have also been a key to the fundraising effort. At the Tribal pow-wow over Labor Day weekend, she and her teammates held a raffle that raised about $2,000.

On Sept. 6 at 4:30 p.m. they are holding a poker tournament at Sprinker Recreation Center. The buy-in for the tournament is $50, and the tribal team hopes to raise about $2,000 off of that.

Other tribal members have also played a key role in the effort by donating such things as a logo for the team T-shirt. Councilmember David

Bean, who will be participating in the three-day walk, is challenging smoke shop owners to also donate to the cause.

Michelle Bellue hopes to top the $2,800 she raised last year by raising $6,000 this year. She said she plans to continue to participate in the event – and if there’s ever a year she can’t walk, she would still like to help organize the team.

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