By Jenna Lebovits
When Olivia Boger lost her mother, Cande, to breast cancer in 2001, the then-20-year-old educator wanted to honor the woman who spent her final decade protecting her family’s sense of normalcy. Diagnosed when Boger was 10, Cande chose not to tell her children she was sick, believing it would spare them from losing their carefree childhood. A few years after her mother’s passing, Boger gathered 10 women from her hometown in Concord, Massachusetts—all of whom had been impacted by breast cancer, one having lost her mother and the others having been in treatment—to model in a fashion show directly benefiting children whose parents died of cancer.
From the start, Cande’s colorful spirit shaped the design of the runway shows. “She was the most fun and wonderful dance-in-the-kitchen kind of mom,” recalls Boger. “So it had to be upbeat. I didn’t want it to be sad.” What Boger expected to be a small, one-off event has since grown, over nearly two decades, into a nationwide celebration of support, strength and survivorship with its Boston, New York and Southern California runway shows.
The nonprofit also provides family grants, from $10,000 to $30,000, for those affected by breast cancer, to help cover everyday costs like groceries, childcare, counseling and extracurricular activities. “Our greatest hope is that the funding can create consistency and normalcy for the children,” says Boger. “We know we can’t take away a metastatic diagnosis, we can’t bring back a mother, but we can show up for the family and lift some of the financial stressors that come with cancer.” Learn more and apply to model at runwayforrecovery.org.
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