- November 16, 2025
Terry Gorski and her husband, Jerome. Courtesy photo
Plantation Oaks residents showed up on Saturday, Oct. 25, to support their local Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event. Courtesy photo
Kimberly Ricci, a breast cancer survivor, and Sharon and Ed Taggart. Courtesy photo
Plantation Oaks residents decked out their golf carts in pink for breast cancer awareness. Courtesy photo
Tara Hoppe Fowinkle, Kelly Stapleman, Terry Gorski, Connie Rottgen, Kimberly Ricci, Sharon Taggart and Susan Van Gorder. This group of women have been friends for over 10 years, and the matching shirts are from a getaway with Gorski in August. Courtesy photo
Tara Hoppe Fowinkle, Terry Gorski, Kathy Shanahan and Jeannette Gagnon. Courtesy photo
When Ormond Beach resident Tara Hoppe Fowinkle was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021, she had her friend Terry Gorski to lean on for support.
Fowinkle had gone in for a regular mammogram, which revealed a 1.5 centimeter nodule, so small Fowinkle said she couldn’t feel it, even after doctors showed her where it was.
After Fowinkle received her diagnosis, Gorski took her out to dinner with a group of girlfriends and gifted her a bag containing a blanket and other items to help her on her cancer journey. Gorski had gone through this before; she was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and was in remission at the time.
Due to carrying the BRCA2 gene, doctors recommended Fowinkle undergo a mastectomy and a hysterectomy to ensure she remained cancer-free in the future.
Gorski was there every step of the way.
“She was my light and my biggest cheerleader,” Fowinkle said.
Shortly after that, doctors informed Gorski that her cancer was back. Today, Gorski is battling stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.
Fowinkle and Kathy Shanahan, another friend of Gorski's, wanted to honor her. Last year, they formed a virtual walk for their Plantation Oaks neighborhood to participate in the annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer movement. They put the virtual team together and raised almost $5,000 in two weeks.
This year, Fowinkle and Shanahan were able to raise double that — $10,103.91 — for their virtual team, Golden Warriors of Ormond Beach. The team ranked second in the nation for virtual teams raising money for the American Cancer Society.
Fowinkle frequently participated in the walks in Orlando, where she previously lived. She thought about joining the Volusia walk in Daytona, but thought that an event in her neighborhood, one where people could take part in a golf cart parade, would suit their needs better. So for the past two years, they've done just that. Over 100 people showed up for this year's event on Saturday, Oct. 25, which also had a raffle, lunch and dessert. Gorski prepared all the food.
"She's such a giver," Shanahan said. "Anybody that moves into the community, she brings them a meal or flowers or something. Anytime someone's sick, she's the first one to ask them what she can do to help. It's very hard to do things for her."
A couple in the neighborhood donated tickets for luxury box seats for a Jacksonville Jaguars game. Their only stipulation was that another set of tickets go to Gorski and her husband.
Almost everyone that lives in their neighborhood knows Gorski, Shanahan said. She's the type that is always looking to give back in any way that she can.
"She's just such a real person," Shanahan said. "She's so interested in everyone's story and she doesn't brag. She's just so genuine."
Seeing all the golf carts, decked out in pink for breast cancer awareness, was heartwarming, Shanahan said.
Fowinkle agreed.
"I just want to freeze the moment — just to take it all in," she said. "I truly do."
"And just to know that we know how much it means to her," Shanahan added.
According to the American Cancer Society, about 1 in 8 women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. Making Strides aims to raise awareness and funds to support breast cancer research.
That's why Shanahan and Fowinkle have vowed to host a Making Strides event every year in Gorski's honor.
"She always says that if they haven't found anything to save her, she wants them to be able to keep finding things until it can save someone else," Shanahan said.
Because decades of cancer research have helped women like Fowinkle become cancer-free.
"If the little annual thing that we do in our community every year is going to propel that even further, that makes me happy," Fowinkle said. "I don't want anyone to have to go through what Terry's going through. So finding a cure is important."
