CHANDLER, AZ — A group of high school students is bringing the community together at Tumbleweed Park in Chandler for Arizona's first PMOS Women's Health Walk.
Ira Bagga, a senior at Arizona College Prep, started "BreakingTheCycle", a student-led nonprofit, over a year ago. The goal is to raise awareness about Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome, or PMOS, a hormonal and metabolic condition that impacts 1 in 8 women.
"Even through just knowing what it is, it can help people understand that it is something that they can act upon, and something that they should be aware," Bagga said.
Ira Bagga, Aparna Venki Tasubramanian, Shyla Dheman and Nikki Vishwanath lead the nonprofit.
For Nikki, the mission is personal.
"It took me over a year to get diagnosed, and just going through that experience made me realize how uncommon it is, because when I first got diagnosed I had no clue what it was," said Nikki Vishwanath, a junior at Arizona College Prep High School.
Since Breaking the Cycle began, they've reached thousands of people and raised thousands of dollars for research.
On Sunday Sept. 13, they are looking to add to that with a community event and walk at Tumbleweed Park, supporting PMOS research at Boston Children's Hospital.
"Our registration is only $10, and that $10 will go to Boston Children's Hospital,"said Aparna Venki Tasubramanian, a senior at Arizona College Prep High School.
"We have currently funded one research project there, but we are working toward our $10,000 goal, through this walk but also through other fundraising efforts," Bagga said.
With every step, every event and every dollar raised, they are building a community.
"We want to create a community where everyone is more aware of their health and just make the community whole," said Shyla Dheman, a senior at Arizona College Prep High School.
Sign up for the walk here.
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