Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Expands Educational Tour to Share Breast Health, Breast Cancer Information
Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Expands Educational Tour to Share Breast Health, Breast Cancer Information
On the Way to the Cure - Komen On the Go™ Drives Home Importance of Developing Healthy Habits Early, Practicing Them for Life to All Generations
DALLAS - June 2, 2005 - While millions of Americans take to the highways this summer and fall for vacations and family reunions, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, through its On the Way to the Cure - Komen On the Go™ community educational tour, will be taking important information about breast health and breast cancer directly to people at festivals, sporting events, shopping malls, and college and university campuses.
On the Way to the Cure - Komen On the Go™
The goal of the 14-week, 34-stop On the Way to the Cure - Komen On the Go™ tour is to engage all generations in the fight against breast cancer, by driving them toward a better education about breast health and breast cancer and a deeper commitment to practical, everyday health habits that could save their lives.
On the Way to the Cure - Komen On the Go™ launches Saturday at the Komen National Race for the Cure® in Washington, D.C. With its signature pink trailer, On the Way to the Cure - Komen On the Go™ is a hands-on learning experience that is designed to engage people where they live, work, study and play. Men, women and children are encouraged to stop by the trailer and learn more about a disease that is diagnosed once every three minutes in women in the United States.
On the Way to the Cure - Komen On the Go™ will visit community locations in summer months and colleges and universities in the fall. A sample of planned tour stops include Breast Cancer 3-Day events, Kansas City's Crown Center Mall, June 20-21, and Chicago's African and Caribbean International Festival of Life, held July 1-4 in Washington Park.
For more information about breast cancer and to learn more about On the Way to the Cure - Komen on the Go™, including tour stop specifics, visit www.komen.org/go.
Learning in a relaxed, fun setting
"One in seven women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. For this reason, it is never too early or too late to start practicing breast self-exams, eating right or exercising," said Susan Brown, M.S., RN, a health educator on staff at the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation's national headquarters in Dallas. "Through this tour, the Komen Foundation will help people learn to make positive, practical decisions about breast health that could save their lives."
On the Way to the Cure - Komen On the Go™ allows people of all ages to learn at their own pace in a relaxed, fun setting. Each stop along the route will feature Komen's pink trailer, which converts into an interactive learning center, complete with computer kiosks, materials about breast cancer, breast self-examination (BSE) guides, information about opportunities for local involvement in breast health awareness activities, tips on how to be an effective co-survivor and local and regional resources for additional breast health and breast cancer information. At some tour stops, survivors and health care professionals will be on hand to answer questions and share their experiences and knowledge.
The tour also features eight-foot graffiti walls constructed at the college and university stops to give students an opportunity to share a memory or pledge their support in the fight against breast cancer. In most cases, the wall will remain on the campus as a poignant reminder of the role each person plays in eradicating breast cancer as a life-threatening disease. Prizes and giveaways, including iPod® products, pre-paid telephone calling cards and other items will be included on the tour stops.
2005 Tour: More stops, wider audience
The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation launched On the Way to the Cure in 2004 as a pilot project, with stops at selected college and university campuses. Based on the widespread success of the pilot year, the Komen Foundation is expanding the tour to include Breast Cancer 3-Day events and community stops to enable all generations to benefit from the Foundation's information about breast health and breast cancer.
The tour was made possible by funds from the Val Skinner Foundation, which hosts the annual LIFE (LPGA Pros in the Fight to Eradicate Breast Cancer) Event, a charity golf event featuring the greatest women golfers in the world from the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour. Skinner, a 20-year veteran and multiple winner on the LPGA Tour, began the Val Skinner Foundation and annual LIFE Event in memory of her LPGA touring professional and close friend, Heather Farr, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at 24 in 1989 and died of the disease in 1993 at the age of 28. In the past six years, the LIFE Event has raised $1.5 million for the Komen Foundation in support of its initiatives to engage young women.
"To see young women and men truly engaged in last year's On the Way to the Cure pilot experience was phenomenal," said Val Skinner. "And, while we remain focused on helping the next generation understand the importance of committing to a life of positive breast health practices, expanding the 2005 tour to reach out to a wider cross-section of the highly diverse U.S. population helps dispel the still- prevalent attitude of ‘it can't happen to me,'" said Skinner.
