New Mt. Olive Baptist Church Will “Paint The City Pink” With Community Cancer Walk

By Melissa Spellman
Fall Intern 2023
New Journal and Guide

New Mt. Olive Baptist Church will host a Chesapeake Community Cancer walk on October 21, 2023, at 9 a.m. located at Chesapeake City Park. The theme of this event, “Paint The City Pink”  is love, hope and strength.

Senior Pastor Rev. Jonathan Foster and the Executive Team of New Mt. Olive wanted to establish a community walk that would meet the needs of the citizens in the City of Chesapeake.

“We’ve had a lot of casualties. A lot of members in our church have passed away. Since I have been here, I buried four members due to cancer in my five years pastoring here,” said Foster. He continued, “My mother passed away from cancer when I was 12 and both of my aunts passed away from cancer. And it’s very prevalent in the African-American community.”

New Mt. Olive reached out to Priority Toyota Cancer Center who agreed to partner with them in this Paint the City Pink event.  “We ultimately wanted to do something very small at the start.” After considering various locations around the city the idea grew, “to a partnership with Toyota Priority Cancer Center and now it has just blown up,” said Pastor Foster.

This initiative differs from other national cancer walks because the proceeds will go to help the citizens of Chesapeake who are battling cancer. “We wanted to do a walk in Chesapeake and make sure the money that was raised in Chesapeake goes back to an organization fighting cancer in Chesapeake,” explained Pastor Foster.

To register for the cancer walk visit Eventbrite.com and search Chesapeake Community Cancer Walk up guests can register in person on Oct. 21 the day of the event. Come Paint the City Pink with Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Chesapeake City Park. Enjoy music, games, food, and a family balloon releasing. Let’s come together to honor cancer survivors and raise awareness about reducing cancer risks.’