Sixteen GL actresses, including Kim Zimmer (Reva) and Tina Sloan (Lillian), are honoring breast cancer awareness month by joining the Gal to Gal Foundation, www.designhergals.com (and thousands of other participants) for a virtual fund-raising walk through 31 cities in October. Yep, we said virtual! Digest tracked down Design-her Gals founder, Gal to Gal Foundation creator and lifelong GUIDING LIGHT fan Jeanne Fitzmaurice to get the scoop on the big online event, which officially kicked off on October 1.

Soap Opera Digest: Tell us about designhergals.com and the Gal to Gal Foundation.
Jeanne Fitzmaurice: The whole passion and purpose behind the Web site, designhergals.com, is to raise funds and awareness for stage IV breast cancer patients through the Gal to Gal Foundation. Three years ago, we launched the site, which allows you to go online and create your virtual likeness or your friends and pick from all sorts of designer outfits and accessories and your favorite dog or whatever. You can then have that made into note cards, stationery and all sorts of fun products. I realized that with all the wonderful money going toward prevention and cures and education in breast cancer-related causes, that there was very little money going into stage IV, which is the stage that's deemed incurable. So the money we raise goes toward granting wishes for patients and their families, and we're also sponsoring a conference that's going to be held in February of 2009. Our goal and objective is to dedicate 100 percent of our resources specifically to stage IV.

Digest: How does the walk work?
Fitzmaurice: This is not a real walk, so you don't have to train for it! It's very simple and easy to do. Basically, you go to the Web site, design your gal or your guy, or even create an angel, pick the outfit, register and then tell a little story about why you joined the walk. It's $5 [for the entire walk] and it takes about two minutes. You walk in the "city of the day." We start in Boston's Harvard Square and end in San Francisco, so every day you're in a different city for 31 days. Larry King, Kim Zimmer [Reva] and other celebrities are the ambassadors for the walk.

Digest: Speaking of Kim Zimmer, how did GUIDING LIGHT's gals get involved?
Fitzmaurice: GUIDING LIGHT has had two very important breast cancer stories. Their whole cast really rallied around the Gal to Gal Foundation. For very little money and a very little amount of time, you can make a huge difference. Three hundred thousand women a year die of stage IV breast cancer and we're really about today and really want to make a difference in their lives today.

Digest: But why a virtual walk?
Fitzmaurice: It allows us to shed light on a rather serious topic in a fun and whimsical way. If you want to walk a team or with your favorite soap star, you can. I have done the Susan G. Komen walk myself and it was an amazing experience and I did enjoy it, but I thought it would be fun to create a virtual walk in a much simpler way. It allows women and men to connect with each other around the world. It's a global issue and it's a neat and fun way for people to check in with their gal or guy and see where they're walking that day, and find other friends or join other friends and read the amazing stories that people are leaving on the site. If you want to walk with your favorite soap star, we have dozens of celebrities who have loaned their gals and guys to the walk!

Digest: So what happens to your virtual self after the walk?
Fitzmaurice: The good news is that five percent of every sale from designhergals.com goes to the Gal to Gal Foundation year-round. All the outfits that you've chosen will be available on www.designhergals.com, so you can create an amount with your gal and make yourself some fun gift items that allows you to keep your gal. During the walk, there are a lot of people who want to have their gal posted on their Facebook page and we're happy to do it. Just send us an e-mail [galwalk@designhergals.com], ask us and we'll send it.

This year, the Gal to Gal Foundation hopes to raise $250,000. For more information or to sign up for the walk, visit www.galtogalwalk.org.