Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Passionately Pink Part Deux....

If he's man enough to wear the crown to help fight cancer, aren't you? 
Tomorrow I will get to volunteer and work my very first event as an official Susan G. Komen Educator, something which means a LOT to me as I've been volunteering off and on for several years with the Race for the Cure and many other yearly events in Virginia and North Carolina as well.

I also help out with the annual "Fall Bra-Zaar", this will be our 3rd one and one of our biggest fundraisers is the Mr. Brazaar pageant. Believe it or not, my husband posed to be their inaugural "Miss-ter", in a crown and banner no less...but on a motorcycle. As you can tell, he's pretty manly so this really was as much support as any gal could hope for!

What's so special is this fundraiser honors Denys Musselman who passed away of Triple Negative breast cancer. Her life helps others in this wonderful event.
you can find it on Facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/415104278594187/                It will be held October 5th

Now that's devotion ladies! Doesn't he look awesome helping us out for a good cause? ;) 

Working with these events led me to be invited to join a training program & seminar for Susan G. Komen Educators. These women go out into the community at different events such as fairs, women's shows, galas, luncheons...you name it....and not only have the fun of awarding out prizes at table games but more importantly, help women find literature and connection to the programs that can help them most. Whether that's finding a low-cost screening option, getting a referral for financial assistance, or just learning more about what we do (and still don't) know about breast cancer, it's a wonderful opportunity to reach out to others like myself who might not have known who to ask or maybe didn't really think about being pro-active about their health and following up on their own breast care. 


Some of us were survivors, I would say about half, and the rest were from the medical community and a few were relatives of survivors. Every single one had a personal link however connecting them to the cause which made for not a dry eye in the room as we went around to learn about our new sisters in volunteer work. One lady who spoke was a 60+ year old survivor TWICE OVER...which gives even me hope should mine return that I too, could beat it as she did. There were several survivors younger than myself and I remember 12 years ago feeling it was only me that was that young and scared. But more and more women are having the courage to reach out and give support to others through that journey and that's nothing short of inspiring as we work towards a world where our daughters (and our sons, for they too can get it....did you know approximately 35-40 men a YEAR are diagnosed just in Virginia??) can wake up to a day where they won't have to have an annual walk for the cure because it's already THERE.