register |  login
› ERIE
Loading Ad
Visit Other Hubs:
ADVERTISEMENT
Loading Tower
RECENT STORIES

MOTHER’S DAY 2008 BREAST CANCER “WALK TO EMPOWER”

Contributed by: Meghan Stinton on 4/14/2008

Join more than 40, 000 walkers and volunteers in 15 cities nation wide who are making this Mother's Day truly inspiring and empowering by honoring those affected by breast cancer. On Sunday, May 11 at Denver's City Park, be there for the ones today who can't wait for tomorrow's cure.

Commending its third year of hosting the Y-ME Walk to Empower, the Rocky Mountain Y-ME Affiliate has a fundraising goal of $175,000. The money raised will not be put toward research, but instead to help those affected by breast cancer who cannot wait for a cure. All funds benefit the Y-ME programs and services which are offered free of charge to anyone seeking information and support when facing breast cancer.

This year, Y-ME is also celebrating its 30th anniversary as the nation's first non-profit breast cancer organization, whose mission is to ensure, through information, empowerment and peer support, that no one faces breast cancer alone.

"Thirty years ago, there were no pink ribbons, but there was breast cancer. People who received a diagnosis often felt alone and afraid. Today, things are different thanks to Y-ME," said Sarena Petalas Rocky Mountain Affiliate's Family Team Chair and whose Mother is a breast cancer survivor. "While a diagnosis can be frightening, people don't have to face it on their own."

People are motivated in many different ways to participate in the Rocky Mountain Affiliate Y-ME Empowerment walk. Whether participants are honoring the survivors in their lives, commemorating their own survivorship or remembering those who are no longer with us, the Mother's Day event unites individuals to empower and celebrate the same cause.

In Colorado alone, 2,520 women each year are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer and of those, 530 women are not expected to survive. Nationwide, it is estimated that nearly 185,000 people will be diagnosed with breast cancer. More than $2 million people have been diagnosed and another $1 million are living with the disease who have not been diagnosed.

"Treatments for breast cancer have certainly increased over the last 30 years, but awareness about the disease is still the most crucial factor," said Sheri Clark, executive director. "Y-ME is here for the individuals whose lives have turned upside down from breast cancer. Our free-of-charge programs and services are accessible to anyone who needs support in their time of need," she added.

The Mother's Day tradition started in Chicago 17 years ago. This year, Walk to Empower events have expanded to a total of 15 cities across the country including Atlanta, Ga., Cleveland, Ohio, Houston, Texas, Los Angeles, Calif., Miami, Fla., New Haven, Conn., Phoenix, Ariz., Sacramento, Calif., San Diego, Calif., Seattle, Wash., Springfield, Ill., Tulsa, Okla. and Washington, D.C.

"With this being only our third year in Denver, it's amazing to see the increase in energy and community involvement," says Board President Joanne Sherwood. "It's important that people who want to be proactive in the face of breast cancer-not just patients; but men, women, children, family and friends- have somewhere to go to express their passions and feelings."

The success of Y-ME Rocky Mountain Affiliate's 2008 Walk to Empower can be attributed to the many sponsoring companies. In Denver, our local sponsors include 9News, JackFM, Citywide Banks, Kaiser Permanente, McDonald's, United Airlines and Walgreens.

Helping Y-ME meet its goal of raising $9 million across the country in 2008 are national presenting sponsors including, McDonald's, sanofi-aventis and Walgreens; and national official sponsorship from Bumble Bee, Grant Thornton, Pfizer Oncology and United Airlines.

For more information about building a team or participating in the Mother's Day events, visit http://denverwalk.y-me.org or call 303-300-5158.


About Y-ME Rocky Mountain Affiliate
The Rocky Mountain Affiliate of Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization was founded in 2003 to serve women and men in Colorado. It offers support groups for women touched by breast cancer in the Denver Metro, Fort Collins, Boulder and Colorado Springs areas. Y-ME Rocky Mountain offers breast health awareness workshops, Open Door educational programs and outreach. The Affiliate facilitates local breast cancer support groups and provides breast health education and risk assessments to area women. Last year, more than 2,000 women and their families benefited from Y-ME Rocky Mountain Affiliate's programs and services. Y-ME hopes to expand these services to include other communities throughout Colorado in the coming year.

About Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization
Funds raised from Y-ME's Mother's Day events directly fund programs and services such as the Y-ME National Breast Cancer Hotline, the country's only 24-hour toll-free hotline staffed entirely by breast cancer survivors who are trained peer counselors. For information or support, visit www.y-me.org or call 1-800-221-2141 (English, with interpreters available in 150 languages) or 1-800-986-9505 (Spanish).

Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization's mission is to ensure, through information empowerment and peer support, that no one faces breast cancer alone.
Y-ME is a 501(c)(3) organization and meets the National Health Council's 41 Standards of Excellence in governance, fundraising, accounting and reporting, and evaluation.



###




SUBMIT COMMENT

Rate the above story



Talk Back : submit comments to the story

*Note: you need to log-in to add a comment or rating.

CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Meghan Stinton

Littleton , CO

Meghan Stinton has posted 188 stories and 0 comments since joining on 6/26/2007. Meghan Stinton 's average story rating is 5.
SAVE AND SHARE THIS STORY
STORY RSS FEEDS
WANT TO WRITE FOR YOURHUB.COM?
Want to see the stories you write and the photos you shoot featured in the YourHub.com Thursday print section available all over the Front Range and with home subscriptions of the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post? All you have to do is register, then post a story or column, start a blog or tell everyone what events are happening in town. We will print the best stories, columns, event listings, photos and blog entries in our print sections.

ADVERTISEMENT
Loading Ad

Loading Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
Loading Ad

This YourHub.com community is produced by The Denver Newspaper Agency
Web Development and Channel Analytics provided by Indigio

terms of use //  privacy policy
the staff //  advertise //  help & faq
buy photos