For many of the participants in the Making Strides for Breast Cancer Walk in Concord, there is a personal story that brings them to the track each year.

Joyce Kimball and Ginny Urdi are no exception. The two Bow residents will be one of 24 Bow Garden Club members and friends who will take part in the event, walking the track at Concord’s Memorial Field to raise money as a team called Dot’s Diggers.

Kimball, Urdi and the rest of the group will be walking in the Sunday, Oct. 19, Making Strides event in honor of the event, as they are among those who came together to work on the replanting of the “Garden of Hope,” a ribbon-shaped flower garden at Memorial Field.

Each summer, volunteers plant the garden and then replant it in October with pink chrysanthemums in time for the event.

“It’s quite impressive. Right now it has the different shades of pink in it,” said Ursi, the club’s president. “You look at it and you think about what it’s all about. People see it there all the time, and sometimes people sit on the bench down there and just reflect.”

Kimball said seeing the number of people at her first walk was an unforgettable feeling.

“The first time I did it was five years ago. I’ve been doing it ever since. I was totally overwhelmed,” said Kimball. “It was just elbow-to-elbow people, and it was just a thrill to be part of that. It’s a huge feeling of support for past, present and future.”

Urdi said hearing the stories of others at the event is a big part for her as well.

“It’s the camaraderie of meeting other people involved with the walk and making strides,” she said. “It gives you a feeling of belonging to the group and doing something good that others can see.”

Although for the past several years she has taken part in the annual walk in Concord, Kimball said this year will have special meaning as she makes her laps around the track wearing a shirt with her sister’s name on it.

“I get very enthused, but it will have more sentiment and a personal clutch on my heart because I don’t know what’s down the road for my sister,” said Kimball. “The first thing I said when she told me the news was that I had all the more to walk for.”

For information about the Sunday, Oct. 19, Making Strides Walk, call 738-4404. Registration the day of event begins at 11 a.m. Opening ceremonies are at 12:30 p.m., and the walk begins at 1 p.m.