Badass Warriors Hosting Party Saturday for Waltham Families Battling Cancer
Four Waltham moms succumbed to breast cancer between July 2022 and May 2023.
They were beloved members of the Badass Waltham Warriors, a group of cancer survivors dedicated to providing “a space for solidarity, support and shared strength.”
On Saturday, the warriors will host their second St. Patrick's Day fundraiser to honor the four women—Kim Strafford, Laurie Moran, Sevan Gebeyan and Tina Pulselli—and help others still in the fight.
The warriors started in 2019 as a private Facebook group for Waltham moms battling breast cancer.
“When people get diagnosed, it’s debilitating physically—and financially,” said Liz Dragone, one of the founders.
So the warriors raise money and quietly cut checks for families, along with planning events to raise the spirits of those battling cancer.
They have hosted two holiday trolley rides around Waltham, singing Christmas carols and spreading holiday joy with Santa and the Grinch.
Along the way, there have been some remarkable gestures amid unthinkable loss.
Tina Pulselli’s final wish was a trip abroad with her family, but it never happened before she passed away in May 2023 at only 46. The warriors stepped in to help her family.
“We raffled off Celtics playoff tickets, raising enough money to send Vinny and the kids to Aruba the following year—a Christmas gift for his children as they faced their first holiday without their mom,” Liz said.
The winner of the tickets, in turn, gave them to the husband and son of another late mom, Laurie Moran, allowing them to spend their first Mother’s Day without her in a way she would have loved.
As more women have joined, the mission has expanded to help not just breast cancer patients, but Waltham kids battling cancer such as Declan Lyons.
Recently the Badass Waltham Warriors became a 501(c)(3) non-profit.
Liz said the lifeblood has always been the incredible generosity of the Waltham community. “The community is so generous and so kind,” she said.
Last year’s fun St. Patrick’s Day party raised $30,000, and the warriors are hoping to raise even more this year, with all proceeds to local families battling cancer.
Courtesy photos
