October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
October turns our focus to shifting temperatures, brilliant foliage and Halloween goblins. Another important remembrance for October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For the last 35 years, BCAM has endeavored to raise public interest and action against a disease that will likely kill over 41,000 women and 500 men (yes, MEN) in the US this year alone. Pink has become the beacon of hope in advancing awareness and treatment.
Raising public awareness hopes to shed light on the causes of breast cancer. The greatest risk factors are gender and age. BRCA1 and 2 genetic aberrations account for only 5-10% of newly diagnosed cancers. BCAM also focuses on prevention. Exercise can help prevent occurrence, reoccurrence and improve quality of life. A healthy body weight significantly decreases the chance of breast cancer as well as a balanced diet filled with dark green leafy vegetables, citrus, carrots, tomatoes and even peppers!
Building on successful diagnostic and treatment options developed over the last decade, the greatest hope for BCAM is to raise funds for more research that will improve survival rates for recurring breast cancer- the biggest killer of our loved ones and where there has been the least progress made. In honor or memory of someone you love, consider donating to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Lynn Sage Cancer Research Foundation or National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. The cure is out there. Money is needed to find it.
In the meantime, help those battling now. Telling someone who is going through surgery, chemo, radiation or its aftermath “call if I can do anything” puts the burden on them. Tell them when you will bring dinner, drive them to chemo or even scrub their bathroom! Cards of encouragement really DO encourage. Be there with them. Listen.
Write your congressman in support of funding cancer research at the National Institutes of Health. It is crucial! Pain management and treatment options need to be available for all.
Remember the influence of GFWC-power in numbers! Wear pink and recruit a friend to help find a cure!
Corporate Champions for Women & Children
In October 2017, GFWC of North Carolina hosted the inaugural ‘Corporate Champions for Women & Children’ (CCWC) awards banquet. At the core of this fundraising event each year is the recognition of three deserving corporations for their support and assistance to women and children across our great state.
Through the dedication and leadership of Chairman Beverly Lassiter and the CCWC Committee, GFWC-NC has partnered with businesses who align themselves with our mission of volunteering and financially supporting women and children throughout North Carolina.
We invite you to join us on October 17, 2019 at The Hilton Charlotte Center City for our third annual Corporate Champions for Women and Children fundraising event. The funds from this program support GFWC-NC programs and leadership across the state. For more information, contact hq@gfwcnc.org.