Mantua resident Ashley Levinson is shown during treatment for breast cancer. She was diagnosed in July of 2023 and was declared cancer free in January. Her experience led her to take part in the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk at Cooper River Park.
Breast-cancer awareness events like the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer showed Ashley Levinson (second from right) that her story could help others going through cancer.
Ashley Levinson’s world was flipped upside down in July of 2023, when he discovered that she had Stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma, a form of breast cancer.
It came as a total surprise after a normal mammogram a month before. But not long after that, the Mantua resident experienced low energy, small changes in her skin and the appearance of a lump. She got another mammogram, followed by a biopsy that revealed the bad news in just 24 hours.
“Hearing the words, ‘You have cancer,’ was one of the hardest things I ever faced,” Levinson recalled. “It left me feeling helpless, as a journey with cancer often starts with no road map, no guarantees and no set plan. My first step was to determine what type of treatments I would need and where I could go to get the best care.
“After meeting with my cancer team, including an oncologist, breast surgeon and radiologist,” she added, “we did further testing to identify the type of cancer, my genetic profile and the likelihood the cancer would come back. I had a generic mutation of the BARD1 gene that made the likelihood of the cancer returning high, and the cancer I had was aggressive and would require targeted treatment.”
What followed were months of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. Levinson’s cancer journey would last more than a year, and it was not until January that she was declared cancer free. It was during that time that she discovered the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer annual walk at Cooper River Park, where Levinson found kindred spirits with others going through cancer.
“Along with my friends, family and a wheelchair, I entered a sea of Pink with over 14,000 walkers,” she remembered. “Although I couldn’t walk, my team made sure I made it through the 5K, and being part of something so big and so meaningful when I was at such a low point lifted me up.”
The support fueled in Levinson a desire to advocate and educate for breast cancer in her hometown. Along with a sense of community, she decided to team with the township and the county to host the Gloucester Goes Pink 5K in 2024. The event included survivors who recounted their cancer experiences and access to cancer treatment resources.
“Throughout my newfound survivorship, life was still different, and even now requires follow-up appointments, maintenance medications and tests,” Levinson acknowledged. “But a constant theme continues – despite the stage of my journey – that it would still take an army, a community. In a word, support.
“That was my reason for starting Gloucester Goes Pink in 2024 and hosting the second annual community festival in August of 2025,” she added. “I wanted families dealing with breast cancer to know they never walk alone, and for thrivers and survivors to feel empowered by an event that sees them, hears them and holds them.”
“Breast cancer touches far too many lives,” noted township Committeewoman Eileen Lukens at the August walk. “Mothers, daughters, sisters, friends and yes, men too. What today reminds us though, is that no one fights alone.
“Here in Mantua, we believe in the strength of a community, and there is no greater strength than when people come together for a cause that truly matters.”
“I’m a true believer that change starts in our own backyard and with the support of the community,” Levinson observed. “We can change breast cancer as we know it – for everyone.”
