The inaugural Trailblazer 5K is bringing together two organizations with a shared commitment to health and wellness: the Englewood YMCA and Dollars for Mammograms.
The event grew out of a desire to collaborate on something that would benefit the community while encouraging people to get outside, get active and have fun together. The 5K will take place on the Ancient Tree Creek trails adjacent to the YMCA grounds and will be the first organized 5K or trail run held on the trail.
“This is the inaugural year,” Kathleen Callahan, owner of Xpertech explained. “And this is actually the inaugural run on this trail. So, nobody’s ever done a 5K or any kind of a trail run on this.”
The event is designed to be welcoming to everyone. Experienced runners can compete, while those who prefer to walk can participate at their own pace. Leashed pets and children are welcome, and there will also be a separate fun run for younger children at the YMCA.
“It won’t be them on the trail itself,” Kathleen said of the children’s event. “But, you know, back in the YMCA area. And we hope to just have a really good fun day where people can get out and have a good time together.”
The first 200 participants to register will receive goodie bags and medals, and awards will be presented to race participants.
Behind the scenes, a committee has been working quickly to organize the event, secure sponsorships and encourage participation.
“We have a short window,” Kathleen said. “We just started maybe six, eight weeks ago with really pushing it out to everybody and having the signups and the sponsorships and figuring out how we can really raise money for both of the amazing organizations that pour into our community.”
That local focus is one of the things that makes the event particularly meaningful.
“Englewood is a real supportive community,” Kathleen said. “But Dollars for Mammograms and the Englewood YMCA are two of the organizations that everything that is raised here, pretty much stays here.”
The Pink Luncheon October 7th
Dollars for Mammograms is always looking for ways to bring people together and rally support. Their big 5K is a staple, but if you’re wanting something a little different, check out The Pink Luncheon on October 7th at the Wyvern Hotel.
This event isn’t just lunch; it’s a feel-good afternoon full of meaning. Expect inspiring guest speakers, moving stories from survivors, and genuine connections with others who care. It’s a real chance to show up for people battling breast cancer and remind them they aren’t alone. Tickets are just $50, with every dollar going straight to Dollars for Mammograms.
A Mission Born from Personal Experience
For Rita Bertler, the founder of Dollars for Mammograms, the organization’s mission is deeply personal.
Dollars for Mammograms provides no-cost breast cancer detection services for uninsured and underinsured people throughout Charlotte County and South Sarasota County, including Nokomis.
The organization provides screening mammograms, diagnostic mammograms, breast ultrasounds, ultrasound-guided biopsies and breast MRIs when additional testing is needed. It also provides medical assistance grants for certain further diagnostic procedures and, more recently, financial assistance for post-diagnostic care.
The need became clear to Rita through her own experience with breast tumors.
“I started Dollars for Mammograms because of my own personal history,” Rita said.
She had been uninsured when she experienced her first breast tumor and faced the frightening reality of needing medical care without the financial resources to pay for it easily. Her mother had also been a breast cancer patient, increasing her concern.
When her biopsy results came back, the tumor contained tissue that could have developed into breast cancer, but it had been caught early enough.
Then, six months later, another breast tumor was discovered.
After walking out of that doctor’s office with her husband, Rita realized she needed to do something.
“I have to do something about this,” she remembers thinking. “There are women out there that aren’t going for further testing because they can’t afford it.”
Rita understood that problem personally. She had the ability to put her medical bills on a credit card, but it still took years to pay them off.
“I had the credit card power to be able to get myself the health,” she said. “It took four years for me to pay off my medical bills.”
That experience became the driving force behind Dollars for Mammograms.
“I felt like I have been blessed twice,” Rita said. “And I just felt like I had to do something to help these people.”
Helping the People Who Fall Through the Cracks
One of the organization’s most important distinctions is its focus on people who can fall into the gap between traditional assistance programs and affordable medical care.
Dollars for Mammograms does not accept federal or state funding. Rita said that allows the organization to help people who might otherwise be excluded from assistance because their income is too high for certain government programs, while still being unable to afford medical testing.
“If you take any federal or state funding, you can only help people two hundred percent below poverty,” Rita explained.
She wants Dollars for Mammograms to reach the people “right in between,” the people who are working, often in low-paying jobs, who may technically have insurance but still cannot afford the high deductibles and out-of-pocket costs associated with diagnostic testing.
“Those are the people that I truly want to help,” Rita said. “Because I was one of those people when I had my first breast tumor. I almost lost my whole life because I was uninsured at the time. And I never want that to happen to anybody again.”
Kathleen understands that gap, too. She recalled being underinsured while pregnant with her youngest daughter and experiencing firsthand how difficult medical expenses can become, even for someone who is working and earning an income.
“Just because you have a good-paying job doesn’t mean that you can afford this testing,” she said.
And when someone is worried about a possible cancer diagnosis, financial concerns can make an already frightening situation even worse.
Early Detection Can Change Everything
Rita shared one example that demonstrates why the organization’s flexible approach is so important.
The youngest patient Dollars for Mammograms has ever helped was a 17-year-old local girl. Because of her age and the density of her breast tissue, a mammogram wasn’t appropriate, so Rita approved a breast ultrasound instead.
The ultrasound revealed a mass approximately the size of a golf ball.
Fortunately, it was not cancer. It was a clogged duct.
But without the organization’s willingness to look beyond standard age guidelines, that young woman might not have received the testing she needed.
“The parents’ insurance, because she was 17 years old, and a lot of insurance companies won’t pay for it unless you’re 40 or over,” Rita explained. “Nobody wanted to touch her.”
A physician who knew about Rita’s program called and asked whether they could find a way to help the teenager.
“We do,” Rita said.
The story illustrates a larger issue Rita and Kathleen both feel strongly about: women’s health cannot always be approached using the same standards developed for men.
“Women are not small men,” Kathleen said, quoting a woman she follows who advocates for greater attention to the differences between women’s and men’s health.
“Our hormones are different,” Rita added.
That difference, they argue, matters in research, diagnosis and treatment.
The Agony of Waiting
The financial barriers are only part of the problem. Access to testing can also be an issue.
Rita noted the shortage of professionals in the radiology field and the difficulty patients can face when they are told they must wait weeks for testing. For someone who has discovered a lump, four to six weeks can feel interminable.
“If you’re feeling a lump and your doctor says you need to wait four to six weeks, that’s like every day is agony,” the interviewer observed.
Rita agreed. But she also offered a perspective shaped by her own experiences with serious illness and uncertainty.
“No matter what the news is, when you finally know what the news is, even if it’s something you don’t want to hear, at least you know where you’re at and you can start,” she said.
“The what ifs can make you crazy.”
Kathleen described those anxious thoughts as an “itty bitty shitty committee;” the internal voice that fills in all the frightening possibilities while someone waits for answers.
Rita learned the importance of focusing on the immediate moment during her husband’s prolonged illness.
“You could really go crazy if you thought too far ahead,” she said. “What I learned to do was just deal with what was going on this half an hour. If I had to take it back to ten minutes, not worry about the what ifs.”
The lesson applies to many difficult situations: sometimes the only way forward is one step, or even one minute, at a time.
An All-Volunteer Organization
Dollars for Mammograms has been operating for 26 years with an entirely volunteer board.
There are no paid positions, and Rita originally turned a bedroom in her home into the organization’s office.
That low-overhead model means that approximately 93 cents of every dollar raised goes toward helping people with medical testing and assistance, with roughly 7 percent covering the costs of operating the program.
The organization also provides an annual scholarship for students pursuing careers in radiology. The scholarship helps students with prerequisite courses before they move into technical or professional radiology programs.
The need for those professionals is significant.
“When you call and you need a test and they tell you four or six weeks out, there is such a shortage in the radiology field,” Rita said.
And that shortage affects something fundamental: early detection.
“That’s detection when we all want to know what’s wrong with us,” she said.
A Community That Gives Back
The work of Dollars for Mammograms has been supported by organizations and individuals throughout the community.
Rita recalled that seed money from an earlier breast cancer-related effort helped establish the organization. Community members also helped her navigate the process of establishing the nonprofit and writing its articles of incorporation.
Over the years, women’s organizations, men’s organizations, fraternal groups, Rotary clubs and others have supported the mission.
Some fundraisers are planned well in advance. Others come as unexpected surprises.
Rita recently received a $3,500 check from a group of women who had held a luncheon and selected Dollars for Mammograms as their charity.
“I didn’t know a darn thing about it until the letter came,” she said. “What a gift.”
That community support has allowed the organization to expand its reach over the years.
More Than a 5K
The Trailblazer 5K is one part of a much larger effort to bring attention and funding to local health and wellness programs.
Additional fundraising activities are being planned, including a possible pickleball tournament, a bowling fundraiser and a golf tournament. Dollars for Mammograms is also planning a fundraising cruise from February 21–28, 2027.
There will also be a small breast cancer awareness luncheon in Punta Gorda, an area that Rita is particularly pleased to see becoming part of the organization’s fundraising efforts again.
“I am pleased about this,” she said. “I know it’s going to be heartfelt. And sometimes those are the best.”
The Trailblazer event itself represents that same spirit: bringing people together, encouraging healthy activity and raising money for organizations whose work directly benefits the local community.
For Rita, the mission remains straightforward.
“Our mission is the no-cost breast detection,” she said.
For Kathleen, the appeal is equally simple: health, wellness, community and the opportunity to support organizations whose work stays close to home.
The inaugural Trailblazer 5K isn’t just about running.
It’s about making sure people have access to the care they need, supporting local organizations and reminding the community that sometimes the most important difference can be made by helping one person at a time.
Click here for more information about Englewood YMCA.
Click here for more information about Dollars for Mammograms.
