Seventeen-year-old Faith Laughlin wants to save lives. Her father, Steve Atkins, says she was impacted by the effects of breast cancer: "My mother-in-law and her sister had both dealt with breast cancer. My mother-in-law is a breast cancer survivor. Unfortunately, her sister was not. And my wife, Faith's mother, is BRCA 2 positive and has a higher probability of contracting breast cancer."
Faith participated in many Komen Races. Now she holds the first-ever title of Junior Chair for next year's race.
"So far I'm getting volunteers from Wellington High School, Jupiter High School, Dwyer High School, Oxbridge Academy, and The King's Academy," she said.
The high school senior says getting teens involved now is investing in the future. "The adults are getting older and what happens when all of them go away and are not able to help with it anymore. What are we left to do? We can't fix it if we don't know what to do with the problem," she said.
Faith's school, The King's Academy, is supportive. Middle and high school principal Sonya Jones said: "We couldn't be more proud of Faith. The fact that she is passionate about this program and she is really taking an initiative to make sure that she is going to give back to the community."
Faith's father is also proud of her. "For us, it's an enormous source of pride that she's involved."
A teen that wants to help.
"I'm trying to actually raise money so that one day we can find a cure," Faith said.
The Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure South Florida is Saturday, January 26th, 2019.