A Hamilton County woman is one of two area residents giving their time, dollars, miles and voices to help find a cure for breast cancer.

Tippie Howland of McLeansboro and Racheal Moyers of Mt. Vernon are working to raise $6,000 for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure walk Aug. 6 through 8 in Chicago.

Howland and Moyers are both first-timers for the event, which involves walking 60 miles over three days and camping out in pink tent cities at night.

“I’ve always been very interested in doing something like this,” Howland said. “In high school, we did walks, and then (later) I came upon two great friends who both have breast cancer.”

She said she saw information about the Walk for the Cure in a magazine and was inspired to add herself to the ranks raising money and walking in cities across the world.

“I saw all these strong women,” she said. “My biggest thing is: I can. I am healthy.”

Howland asked Moyers, a co-worker at ACS in Mt. Vernon, to join her team for the walk.

Moyers said she was excited to be able to be a part of the fundraising team.

“I’ve always wanted to do something like this, but I didn’t know where or how to get started,” she said. “This opportunity presented itself and I took it. I’ve always wanted to give back in some way. I’m 30, and I’m healthy. Charitable things have always interested me, but I wasn’t sure how to get into them. This seemed interesting, and fun, too.”

Howland and Moyers said they have been training since March, walking laps around the trail at Veterans Park in Mt. Vernon and taking trips to hike at locations like Giant City State Park in Makanda.

“That was a good training adventure,” Moyers said of hiking at the state park. “We try to change it up, otherwise it just gets boring.”

Participants in the Walk for the Cure are required to raise $2,300 each to walk, Howland said. She said though $6,000 is a “lofty” goal for them, they have raised about $3,600 so far through a couple different fundraisers in Mt. Vernon and McLeansboro.

Moyers and Howland will participate in one of more than 140 Race for the Cure events across the world in 2010, according to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Web site.

For the Cure events raise money to support breast cancer research and community-based outreach programs.

“In the United States, Komen Race for the Cure events are organized by local Komen Affiliates, and 75 percent of the net income from each Race event states in the host community to fund local programs offering breast health education and breast cancer screening and treatment,” information states. “The remaining 25 percent of the net income supports groundbreaking national breast cancer research. Internationally, the ratio of funds varies, based on the country’s needs.”

The women have been selling T-shirts and bracelets, as well as holding theme event nights since they started training.

They have had three rummage sales and two spa nights, as well as a bake sale in June.

“We had a spaghetti dinner where we raised a little over $1,000, so that went surprisingly well,” Howland said.

Moyers said she even put out a jar for donations at a recent family reunion she attended – and was shocked at the results.

“I raised about $565,” she said. “That is a good portion of my money.”

Co-workers, family members and church family have come together for the two women, working at events and donating money toward their goal, Moyers said.

“This has been fun, challenging and exciting,” she said. “A lot of people have come together to help us out.”

On July 17, the women will hold a silent auction at GenKota Winery in Mt. Vernon from 2 to 5 p.m.

Howland said they will be auctioning off a variety of packages including a Zumba package with DVDs, books, towels, bracelets and other items, as well as a golf package, Miners tickets, a gift certificate to Stress Knot Massage, bouquets from Lena’s Flowers, a wine package from GenKota, gifts from the Mitered Corner, the YMCA, Newell’s Furniture, Curves and other local businesses.

Catering for the fundraiser will be provided by Misty Thomason of Little Buddies Barbecue in Wayne City, Howland said.

• Rorye O’Connor is a reporter for the Mt. Vernon Register-News, sister newspaper of the Times-Leader.