Julia Cañas
is the founding executive director of Team Survivor Northwest, which provides fitness and health education to some 500 Puget Sound women every year.

“I am a breast-cancer survivor. I have been cancer-free for 15 years. After I was diagnosed, one of the things that helped me through it was staying active.

After my treatment, I trained for a year for the Danskin Triathlon. I met survivors at the event and there was a bond. We wanted to be able to somehow help other women believe in their bodies again and provide them with strength. And so, with founders Dr. Julie Gralow and Lisa Talbott, I helped start Team Survivor Northwest in 1995.

Through exercising, we provide women cancer survivors a means to support each other. Classes like ‘CrossFit’ help us push ourselves beyond where we thought we could go, to feel healthy and be strong.

Water is important for women who are recovering and exercising. But Athena goes a step beyond that. The company is providing the funds for research that will help make a long-term difference not just for us, but for our daughters.

We live in such a great place for cancer research, and among so many of its leaders. Buying Athena water is something we can do to help support them. It makes it easy to feel the connection to them.

So our members take a lot of pride in drinking Athena water. They back it, and they buy it as well. It's part of why we're here.”

- As told to Marion Daniel