One year after being diagnosed with breast cancer, Larchmont resident Cindy Habig decided to do something about the disease she’d come to hate. Ten pairs of sneakers and four Avon 39 Walks to End Breast Cancer later, she, along with her daughter Katie, are on to something therapeutic: apple pies.
In 2013, still recovering from her own mastectomy and reconstruction, Cindy Habig signed up for her first Avon Walk, a two-day, 39-mile walk. She joined Team 4ever in San Francisco, a team started by her sister-in-law, Lis Fuchs, who had become a tremendous advocate for breast cancer awareness and research after her own initial diagnosis at age 37. Avon Walk 39 began in 2003 to fund research to aid in the prevention, understanding and treatment of breast cancer and now is held in seven cities nationwide.
Hooked after her 2013 walk, Cindy Habig signed up for the walk again in 2014, this time joined by her older son, Robbie. When her entire family—husband Bruce, sons Robbie and Matt, and daughter Katie—decided to join her for the walk in 2015, Cindy Habig realized they had to get creative to raise the funds needed to meet Team 4ever’s fundraising goals.
According to Cindy Habig, she and Katie Habig came up with the idea while out training for a walk. They’d always enjoyed baking together, and “Katie could whip out a fruit pie without a recipe,” she said. They emailed a handful of friends, inviting them to order Memorial Day pies. The 150 apple pies they baked and sold as a result helped propel Cindy Habig to the second-highest fundraiser in the 2015 San Francisco Avon Walk, behind her sister-in-law, Fuchs.
Sadly, this year, the Avon 39 Walk has a special meaning for Team 4ever, as Fuchs, the team founder, passed away in November 2015 at age 51 from breast cancer.
“Our feet are heavy, but there is much more to be done,” Cindy Habig said. “So we keep walking. Everyone who buys a pie becomes a part of our team. It really helps know how much support we have in Larchmont.”
“Cancer won’t stop with Lis, so neither will we,” Katie Habig added.
Team 4ever hopes to push their cumulative team total to $500,000 and they are counting on their delicious, home-baked apple pies to help. Cindy and Katie Habig, a recent Villanova University graduate, expect to bake 200 pies for the Fourth of July weekend. Having baked almost 100 pies for Memorial Day weekend, they anticipate using 1,000 pounds of apples this season.
“Thankfully,” Cindy Habig says, “the pie sale helps us turn a very serious and painful topic into a way to spread happiness. Friends share our pies, our story and our mission for us. We truly enjoy baking, but talking to each friend or neighbor as they pick up their pies is my favorite part … and our house smells really good.”
To order a pie, contact Cindy Habig at chabig4ever@gmail.com or 834-1174. A 10-inch pie sells for $25; a 6-inch pie $15. For donations more than $100, donors also receive a free pie. To donate online, visit bit.ly/KHabigAvon39 and bit.ly/CHabigAvon39. Pickup dates begin June 30.
