Walk to Inspire

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jeremy McGuffin
  • 19 AW/PA
LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. --  If someone told you they were going to walk for 24 hours straight, what would you think? “Why?” and “Are you crazy?” are likely responses, especially given it’s in the middle of summer with the heat index rising well above 90F with full humidity.
Would your initial thought that this was a ludicrous cause change if you knew the person was walking to raise awareness for Leukemia? And not just anyone, one of their very own – an Airman from her unit.
This is precisely what U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Shawna Budde, 19th Force Support Squadron, did June 29, 2016, at the base track on Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark.
As an avid marathon runner, she has participated in many events to raise awareness for a myriad of causes.
“It was put on my heart to walk from my coworker to bring more light to this disease as well as inspire others,” said Budde, the Jacksonville-Little Rock AFB University Center superintendent. “I have raised awareness for some great causes in the past, it just felt right to do this.”
Approximately every 3 minutes, one person in the United States is diagnosed with a type of blood cancer. An estimated combined total of 156,420 people in the United States are expected to be diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma.
New cases of leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are expected to account for 9.4 percent of the estimated 1,665,540 new cancer cases diagnosed in the United States. Someone in the United States dies from a blood cancer at a rate of approximately one every 10 minutes. This statistic represents nearly 152 people every day, or more than six people every hour.
Even though she walks for awareness of this disease, Airmen taking care of Airmen is ultimately the goal of the 24-hour walk.
Although the Airman Budde walks to support is not a uniformed service member, she is a 19th FSS civilian.
“I have never met her personally, but we work in the same squadron and it’s all about taking care of our Airmen,” Budde said. “She is an integral part of the team and we are all family whether we wear the uniform or not.”
The Air Force believes Airmen are its most valuable resource. As such, their welfare is of the utmost concern.
We need to put the emphasis on our Airmen as one of his three priorities, said U.S. Air Force Col. Charles Brown, 19th Airlift Wing commander. Our uniformed personnel along with our civilian workforce are all a part of the Team Little Rock family and we take care of family.
Throughout the day, Airmen from the 19th FSS heard what Budde was doing and decided to join her on her 24-hour journey, even if it was only for an hour or two. In all, more than 50 people came out to cheer her on and walk for this common cause.
In this act to support her co-worker, Budde hopes to inspire other to be good wingmen and strengthen our Air Force family through challenging times.