prairie women on snowmobiles ride for breast cancer awareness

Prairie Women on Snowmobiles, Inc., a Canada-based organization of more than 60 women, will ride across Manitoba and Saskatchewan in January of 2003 in the largest women's snowmobiling event in Canada's history.

The event, involving at least 10 club members riding across a 1,600-kilometer route, will raise money for breast cancer research and promote cancer awareness.

"A friend of mine, a breast cancer survivor, asked me to ride with her to raise money," said Carol Tulik, the organization's founder. "After I was no longer able to ride, I took it upon myself to organize the Prairie Women on Snowmobiles."

The January ride will be the third annual trek for the Saskatchewan chapter, but the first to include Manitoba. The organization hopes to promote breast cancer awareness, support the Canadian Cancer Society, encourage volunteerism and salute snowmobiling and its impact on Canada's winter tourism.

The ride is set for January 24-31. By 2005, the organization hopes to ride across Canada with a new province joining the effort each year, Tulik said.

Breast cancer afflicts one in nine Canadian women and is the leading killer of women between 35 and 55, according to the organization. Prairie Women on Snowmobiles has raised a remarkable $170,000 to date.

For more information on Prairie Women on Snowmobiles, contact the Manitoba Chapter at 204/233-5268 or the Saskatchewan Chapter at 306/332-4965. To pledge support for the ride, call 877/977-HOPE. The organization's website, www.prairiewomen.com, will be launched at the end of the month.