‘Faces of Hope’: NYC women find strength and hope in breast cancer fight

Jacqueline Lukasik and Jenny Maenpass are among the “Faces of Hope” aiming to inspire New Yorkers during Breast Cancer Awareness Month all throughout October.  Both Lukasik and Maenpass are participating in the American Cancer Society’s “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” walk in Central Park on Oct. 18, and are part of the society’s “Faces of Hope” nationwide campaign, giving a platform to share their experiences with breast cancer and encourage others to support the cause.  For Lukasik, her diagnosis was discovered through an annual mammogram in June 2023. After spending a prolonged amount of time waiting for ultrasound results and additional imaging, a technician told her that a biopsy would be needed. Lukasik began to cry, and soon after she found out she had stage 1 breast cancer.  “I heard the doctor say the word carcinoma,” she remembered, describing the diagnosis as a life-changing shift. She knew her aunt had had breast cancer, but Lukasik had not yet been genetically te