Comcast also again has a team this year. We asked one of its members, Sara, who works in our Lynnwood call center, to tell us why she participates. Her words speak for themselves. The one reference you might want a little background on is to the former head of customer care here, Cindy Gallanger, who died of breast cancer in 2010. You can learn more about Cindy here. Many, many people here think often of Cindy. We miss her. And we hate breast cancer.

This is why Sara races in the Race for the Cure:

I race for my friends who have been recently diagnosed and triumphed beyond the medical treatments of Breast Cancer. They have now began their emotional healing from such a life-changing experience.  

Sara, at the 2011 Race for the Cure in Seattle Center

I race for Cindy Gallanger, who fought a valiant fight but ultimately lost her life to this disease.

I race because I quit smoking in September of 2009 and can now actually get the oxygen needed to run further than my own street mailbox.  I am a testament of what you CAN accomplish if you set your mind to it.

I race to raise money that will help wipe this disease off the planet, to raise awareness and be an advocate for someone who would not be screened otherwise.  Early detection is key.  Have you or your family members been screened this year?  This cancer doesn’t discriminate. 

I race  as it allows me this type of forum to break down the stereotypes of a diagnosis and treatment.  Breast cancer sometimes can’t be seen; you don’t always lose your hair or have to experience major surgeries.

I race .. well .. look at my shirt.   I am a 10-year survivor.

I race for ME and you.

If you already donate in this area, bless you for doing so. if you did want to donate on behalf of the Komen efforts to study, prevent and eradicate breast cancer, we’d appreciate your donation here. This is a disease that really needs to go.

Comcast’s Terry J. Davis and Walter Neary at the Washington State PTA annual meeting in SeaTac.

Here’s a post from the middle of the Doubletree Hotel in SeaTac, where I am surrounded by hundreds of parent leaders from PTAs throughout Washington. This is a scene repeated throughout the country this spring, as Comcast employees visit annual meetings of PTAs, school board members, school superintendents, teachers, library associations and librarians, and many others. We’re trying to educate people about Comcast Internet Essentials.

Comcast Internet Essentials is our program to provide low-cost broadband Internet and computers to families whose children qualify for free and reduced lunch. So far this morning, we’ve had great conversations from PTA leaders from Tacoma, Marysville, Edmonds, University Place, Otis Orchards (near Spokane), and other locations through this great state. All of these folks seem happy to hear that kids who can’t do homework at home now might be able to thanks to Internet Essentials broadband access. What we do is invite these folks to go to our partner portal and order as much literature as they want to share with families. We really want to get the word out, enough to want to spend some of our weekends here. We’re meeting great people, and we’re getting out an important message.

We are doing some channel juggling here in Washington state so that the timing of certain standard-def channels lines up with their HD counterparts,  and for other reasons of consistency. We’ll be moving from East Coast schedules to the West Coast schedules of the stations. In order to do that, we have to take the channels down for a period of time while most folks are asleep, and we are gradually doing that throughout the state. If you are seeing this post, chances are it is because we Tweeted that your area is affected.

As of this post, the changes were already made in Bremerton, Spokane, Tacoma and Ferndale, and in the wee hours of tomorrow morning (Thursday, May 3) they should take place in Everett and Olympia.

Steve Kipp of Comcast and Estela Ortega of El Centro de La Raza were guests on the May 1 KING TV New Day Northwest program. Click on the picture to go to the program's page and see the segment.

KING TV’s morning talk show, New Day Northwest, featured the subject of Comcast Cares Day during one of its segments today, May 1. KING’s Margaret Larson interviewed Estela Ortega of El Centro de La Raza and Steve Kipp, vice president of communications for Comcast in Washington.

Estela Ortega was very gracious as she described the aftereffects of 200 volunteers:  ”…it was about $20,000 worth of labor. We could not have afforded that. We need the dollars to go directly into the services to the community. So it was a great help. And this was our second year with Comcast. It helps save a lot of dollars.”

Margaret Larson described one of many reasons why companies do need to give back to the community: “ You make a very good point, because all nonprofits, especially these days when dollars are at such a premium, can’t put that money toward capital expenditures, the building, the asphalt. You know you have a whole in your parking lot, but if it’s a choice between that and feeding a family or doing something that’s critical, you have to put your dollars into the program, so this is unbelievably valuable to you.”

Steve Kipp talked about other ways that Comcast enjoys supporting El Centro de La Raza, such as through its youth Digital Connectors program: “We like to think of ourselves as partners, so if Estela needs something, she gives me a call, and we try to figure it out and work with them.”

You can click here to go to New Day’s page and hear what everyone had to say. To see a set of photos on Flickr that capture some of the activity on Comcast Cares Day, click here.

More than 2,200 Comcast employees, friends and family members volunteered throughout Washington. You can read more and see photographs and video of the various 2012 projects here.