Marlene Wolff lost her fight with ovarian cancer 11 months ago, but her memory lives on through the nonprofit organization started by her family.

    The Third Annual Miles for Marli Walkathon was held on Saturday, Jan. 26 at Stafford Park, 501 East Dr., to benefit Message From Marli Foundation, Inc., which stresses the importance of early detection of ovarian cancer.

    Local residents put on their walking shoes to help raise awareness for ovarian cancer in the name of Marlene “Marli” Wolff. The weather was perfect and the day was filled with music, friends and community support.

    Beginning at noon, the walkathon drew more than 300 participants before ending in late afternoon. Participants included members of the Miami Springs Optimist Club, Emmaus Group, and high schools and service clubs.

    There was plenty of food and beverages, plus informational booths to generate awareness and raise a couple of dollars.

    Marc Wolff thanked everyone for coming and supporting the organization.

    “I don’t know what you know about ovarian cancer,” he said. “It’s a devastating cancer just like many of the cancers out there. We’ve been focused on bringing awareness to everybody around the country and even internationally. We’ve reached out to 40 countries via Facebook and we are directing at least 30,000 people a month to our website via Facebook. The Message from Marli literature is placed at University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.

    “The important thing about any cancer is getting it early. Providing awareness and recognizing symptoms is essential for survival. The numbers change drastically.  Eighty percent of the women in this country are being diagnosed in the late stage of ovarian cancer. The numbers are opposite if it’s caught in Stage 1 or Stage 2. The survival ability is 90 percent. This particular disease is more prevalent than anyone knows. One in 70 women will contract ovarian cancer unfortunately.

    “I need to thank the many people here while my wife was ill and even afterwards for the support that we’ve received. It’s deeply appreciated by our family … and we thank you all.”

    MSSH teacher and Medical Hawks sponsor Liset Icaza said, “We are here today at the ovarian cancer walk promoting not only the ovarian cancer awareness but also stroke awareness and breast cancer (awareness). We would like to encourage and motivate all ladies in our communities to become aware of the risk of ovarian cancer, which is obviously one of the diseases that is not detected very early. Usually females know about it when it’s too late. We encourage females to get their pap smears and mammograms, but to get a CA-125 blood test done. … It’s also very important to Marli and her family to have people in our community aware of that and fight for the cause. ”

    For more information or to contribute, visit http://www.messagefrommarli.org; e-mail masonw.mfm@gmail.com; or call 305-467-8232.

Let’s hear it for Marli!

    • Vivianna Caballero: “I’m here with the Doral Diamonds Dance Team. We are supporting the cause of the Message From Marli Foundation and we are selling Krispy Kreme Doughnuts to help the organization.”

    • Yerri Dagnan: “Marlene was my niece. And I miss her terribly.”

    • Krista Schubert: “I’m here with the Anchor Club of Miami Springs Senior High and we’re collecting donations to help raise ovarian cancer awareness. We’re handing out ribbons to everybody who donates and we also have a bake sale going on.”

    • Kelsi Kennedy: “Miami Springs Golden Girls are selling Hershey’s Kisses as a fundraiser for Message From Marli.”

    • Councilman George Lob:  “I love it. It’s a great way to bring people out for a great cause. It brings the community together.”