T6

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=97 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B><IMG SRC="a854e6b0.jpg" border=0 width="78" height="107" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <div> <B>MENU</B></div> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ricki Online"><U><B>What's New?</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id8.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Transcripts"><U><B>Transcripts</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biography"><U><B>Biography</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Filmography"><U><B>Filmography</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id9.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Image Gallery"><U><B>Photo Gallery</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Ricki Lake Image Index"><U><B>Ricki Lake Show Image Archives</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ricki Online"><U><B>Ricki Reviews</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="TV Schedule"><U><B>TV Schedule</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About the Site"><U><B>About Ricki Online</B></U></A><A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About the Site"><U><B> Site</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id10.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Quiz"><U><B>Quiz</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id7.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Copyright Terms of Use"><U><B>Terms of Use</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.rickiworld.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.rickiworld.com/"><U><B>Ricki World</B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>  </div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="1" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="653" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#FFFFFF" BORDERCOLORDARK="#FFFFFF" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 462 WIDTH="526"><div> <I>Having lost her grandmother to breast cancer, Lake takes time to train for The Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk.</I></div> <bR> <div> With a hit talk show and a 3-year-old son, it's hard for Ricki Lake to make time to supoprt a good cause.  But after a friend discovered she had breast cancer this year, Lake decided she had to do something. "It threw me for a loop," she says.  "This person is 31 years old--my age, I just couldn't believe that someone so young could be diagnosed with it.  It really sunk in that this could happen to anybody."</div> <div>      The experience deepened Ricki's long-held desire to help work toward a cure.  Her grandmother died of breast cancer 22 years ago, so, Lake says, "It's always been something I felt strongly about," After searching for an opportunity to get involved, she signed up for an  Avon's Breast Cancer 3-Days, a series of annual fund-raising walks that began in 1998.  This year 3-Days have already taken place in Washington, Boson, Chicago, San Francisco and Atlanta, with New York and Los Angeles to follow this month.  Lake is participating in the October 13-15 New York trip, which starts at bear Mountain (near Peekskill, N.Y.) and ends in New York City's Morningside Park, 60 miles away.  She will be chronicling the experience on her show's Web site, ricki.com</div> <div>      "This is a 60-mile hike, so I knew I'd have to train for it for six months," says Lake, explaining why she decided to volunteer for the event.  "It wasn't just writing a check or showing up at some benefit; this was a way to make a commitment."</div> <div>      After signing up, Lake started training by walking up to 20 miles a day near her home in New York City, and attending Avon-sponsered prep sessions.  "It's a great thing to be a part of," she says.  "The hike is, apparently, a life-altering event.  At the closing ceremony the breast cancer survivors put on pink T-shirts, and you realize that some of the people you spent the last three days with survived this thing."</div> <div>      Finding the time to go on a major walk each day hasn't been easy, but, Lake says, "The hardest part has been asking people for money; I feel a little uncomfortable." Nevertheless, she's done the job by getting friends to open their wallets.  "People are so generous, it's amazing," she reports.  "I told Rosie O'Donnell I was doing it, and she donated $1,000."</div> <div>      Each participant must pledge to raise a minimum of $1,800 to join the trip, and all the net proceeds go to fund research toward a cure for breast cancer; the first four events have raised $24 million so far this year, Lake herself has already exceeded the entry minimum and is committed to continuing to support breast cancer research even after the hike itself has ended.  "My grandmother died in 1978, at 58.  She was so young," Lake says. "Given all the medical advances we've had since, [if diagnosis were made now] she might be alive today." --<B>Eleni N. Gage</B></div> <bR> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <B><IMG SRC="0de75960.jpg" border=0 width="117" height="150" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>