Sunday Profile: Perri Finch

The co-chair for the Susan G. Komen race for the cure, a 10-year volunteer with the organization and an Incline Village resident

Like many other Incline Village residents, Perri Finch did not grow up in Nevada. Instead, she lived in different areas of the country before finding her way to Incline Village.

Finch was born in Miami.

“My dad was in the military so we moved around,” Finch said.

But her family stopped moving when she started kindergarten. By the time she was in school the family had settled in Silver Spring, Md. where she lived until she was 19 years old.

College took Finch to the University of Maryland in College Park, Md. But after two years, she decided to change schools while visiting a friend in California. She completed her degree at California State University, Fullerton.

Once Finch had her degree and credentials for teaching secondary education, she taught high school in the city of Orange, Calif. After college she continued living in Newport Beach. Calif. It was there she met her husband Gary in 1977 while visiting a friend.

“He was living in the same condo complex and stopped to talk to the roommate of the friend I was visiting,” she said.

They were married in 1982.

Finch continued to teach high school for 12 years. She decided to change careers after a 1978 California ballot initiative called Proposition 13 was enacted to amend the state’s constitution .

“Newer teachers were always getting laid off and rehired so I took a job selling graphics to a variety of businesses.” she said.

When her son was born she continued with her career until he was 18 months old and then she decided to stay home.

“I enjoyed being able to go places with my husband and my son,” she said.

She also became involved as a volunteer with a Newport Beach breast cancer organization.

Finch helped raise money, organized several golf tournaments, edited their newsletter and served on their board. She was a volunteer at the local food shelf in Newport Beach also.

During this time the Finches visited Incline Village and soon decided they wanted to have a second home in the mountains and continue to live in Newport Beach.

“Our son was about to be a freshman in high school and had no desire to leave Newport Beach,” Finch said.

All of that changed after his first day at Incline High School.

“After his first day of school, he never wanted to go back,” she said. “What really made the difference for him was his cross country coach, Bill Devine. We are so lucky to have people like Bill and Deb who are so involved with their students.”

Finch said that while her son adjusted quickly to his new school and community she found it a little harder.

“At first it was hard for me to stay here,” she said.

All of her friends lived in Newport Beach. So for the first three years there were many trips back and forth. The Finches also spent their holidays in Newport Beach until the third year when they decided to stay in Incline. After five years, the house in Newport Beach was sold.

“Now we still go to Newport to visit, but Tahoe is home,” she said.

Finch said it was easy to meet friends while living in a community like Incline.

“Living in a small community allows us to be able to have friends that live close by,” she said. “In Newport most of my friends were half an hour away so it was not easy to get together to have a cup of coffee.”

Finch started volunteering not long after moving here. First in the schools and then in 1998 she became involved with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in Reno as a volunteer.

The 26-year-old organization has raised $1 billion in 25 years with a mission to eradicate breast cancer as a life threatening disease.

“The mission has changed,” said Finch. “Now it is to find a cure for breast cancer. This is a bold new vision.”

Her husband’s mother died from breast cancer, one of his cousins has breast cancer and he has a sister that has now been diagnosed with breast cancer.

“I am very passionate about it and it is very important to me,” Finch said.

She was on the first race organizing committee in 1998 and put on the first race in 1999. This year as the co-chair, she is in charge of the 10th Anniversary race that is Sunday, Oct. 5 at the University of Nevada, Reno.

“In 2000 I chaired the race for the cure and joined the first board for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Northern Nevada affiliate,” Finch said.

Since that time she has continued to serve on the board, including one year as an exofficio member.

“I am co-chair of the race this year with Linda Smith from Reno who is the Board president,” she said. “ We have been a team for six months.”

As the co-chair for the 10th anniversary race, Finch said they have set some high goals.

The race this year has a goal to have 4,500 race participants or about 700 more than last year.

“Our goal this year is to top $2 million raised for local grants,” she said.

One of the recipients of the local grants is the Incline Village Community Hospital Foundation.

Also, the mamovan that travels to Incline several times during the year is another recipient.

“Incline Village Community Hospital Foundation has received about $30,000 total for the past two years for a program developed by Raine Howe at the Incline Village Community hospital,” Finch said.

Finch has also volunteered for the organization by doing race registrations for several years and serves as the Board Development Chair.

The event this year is being held in a new location at UNR and will feature several new events. Finch said that the evening before the race would feature a women’s pink volleyball game to honor breast cancer survivors. Entertainment is planned for the racecourse and the expo at the event will be more interactive.

“We are thrilled to have two local sponsors from Incline involved in this important cause,” Finch said.

Both Incline Village Community Hospital and the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza are sponsors this year.

“One out of eight women in her lifetime is at risk for breast cancer and most have no known risk factor,” Finch said. “And Susan G. Komen for the cure is the only organization that funds early detection screening which is so important.”