The 10^th Annual

Walk for Jenn

In memory of Jennifer Marie Baxter September 14, 1991 · January 23, 2017

Jennifer Baxter smiling, a cream rose in her hair and a string of pearls at her neck. — Jennifer, 2016

The Walk

Saturday,
September 128:30 in the morning

Donate to UCSF

Buy the 2026 shirt

A portion of every shirt sold goes to the UCSF Lynch Syndrome Center in Jennifer's memory.

WhereBear Creek and McKee, Merced. Meet at the Bear Creek parking structure
DistanceThree miles, out along Bear Creek and back the other bank
TerrainPaved and flat the whole way, right along the creek
BringDogs, strollers, kids, grandparents. Two water stations on the route

This year's walk

$2,110 raised so far toward our $4,000 goal

Updated September 7

Last year we set out to raise $2,000 and finished at $3,545. Every dollar goes straight to UCSF. The family never touches it.

Add to the total

Why we walk

Jennifer's diagnosis is why our family got tested.

Lynch syndrome runs in families. Hers found it for all of us.

Ten years of walking

2017’18’19’20’21 ’22’23’24’252026

Every September since she left us, the same creek, the same three miles. Her birthday falls two days after this one.

Jennifer as a small child in Merced, wearing her father's Army camouflage jacket and cap. — Fort Ord, in her dad's uniform

Her story

She was classy, caring,
and fun to be with.

Born at Oak Knoll, raised at Fort Ord and then in Wiesbaden with the other Army kids. Sledding in the Austrian Alps. A train to Paris. Home to Merced at eight years old, and Golden Valley High after that.

Six years with the after-school program at Burbank Elementary. A manicurist's license from Adrian's, and a chair at Salon on the Square where she built her own style. Tubing the Merced River every summer. Audrey Hepburn at every costume party.

Read Jennifer's story

Last September

Paul and Lisa Baxter with their grandson Ethan after the 2025 Walk for Jenn.

Families gathering at the Bear Creek trailhead before the 2025 walk.

Walkers setting off along the Bear Creek path.

Walkers coming back in to the trailhead at the end of the loop.

Ten years of photographs

Lynch syndrome

If it's in your family,
you can find out.

Lynch syndrome is inherited. It raises the lifetime risk of colorectal, uterine and stomach cancers, and it passes from parent to child. Most people carrying it have no idea.

Jennifer was twenty-three when she was diagnosed and twenty-five when she left us. Her diagnosis is the reason the rest of the family knew to get tested at all.

What to ask your doctor

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