Erin Toghill has three close friends whose mothers each have breast cancer. She saw the emotional and physical toll it was taking on them, so the 1998 graduate decided to go for a little stroll.

Her path: along the streets, through the woods, and up and down hills in 95-degree heat until she worked her way from Frederick, Md., 60 miles south to Washington, D.C. Her journey was part of the Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk in which she and more than 3,000 others raised $6.4 million to fight the disease.

“When I did get hot or tired or cranky I just thought of my friends’ mothers and kept going,” says Toghill, who raised $5,000 with her effort. “In my short 25 years, this was the most important thing I’ve done in my life. I saw children with signs that said, ‘Every step is for you, mom.’ ”