My Race for the Cure Impressions

Guest Writer: Sarah Reed, Komen Missouri Communications and Marketing Intern

This year’s Susan G. Komen Greater St. Louis Race for the Cure® was the first Race for the Cure that I have ever attended. I had heard of some of my friends participating in honor of their family members who have battled breast cancer, but I had never physically gone to the Race. From pictures and videos of previous years, the Race had seemed like an incredible experience and event. I was thrilled to get the opportunity to take part in planning the event this year.

As a new member of the team, I had been anticipating the Race for the weeks I had been in the office. At Komen Missouri, there is so much preparation before the Race between new registrations, T-shirts, sponsors and beyond. Also, there were many people working endless hours to ensure that the Race was going to be a successful event. I was amazed by the dedication and commitment that the committee members and volunteers put into the Race.

Sarah (right) and Janet before the sunrise on Komen Greater St. Louis Race Day 2016

The Friday before the Race was a preparation day. It consisted of long hours in the heat, heavy lifting, and a lot of teamwork. I focused on helping our sponsors get settled at their tent sites on Sponsors’ Row. By the end of the day, we were all exhausted, but we knew that our hard work would pay off in the morning. Needless to say, I was thrilled to see it all come together Saturday morning.

I arrived at the Race site around five am on Saturday morning. Even though I am not the biggest morning person, I could hardly wait to get to the site on Race Day. There were a large number of volunteers setting up the site such as the Survivor Pavilion and the Main Stage. I got see behind the stage, which was a really exciting experience. I also had to the opportunity to meet with the Pink Tie Guys and many of our top sponsors before they went on stage.

I think the most memorable moment of the Race was the Survivor Procession. It was very inspirational to see all of the pink shirts representing the battle and defeat of breast cancer. I loved seeing our executive director, Helen Chesnut, leading the procession. She has been a survivor for 10 years now. Watching and cheering on the survivors was a very emotional moment for me. I was able to see so much strength from our community all dressed in pink.

I also had the opportunity to stand at the finish line with last spring’s intern, Claire. Our role was to get the names of the timed participants who finished first in different categories. It was amazing to see the intense effort that the runners put into the race. It was clear to see that they put every ounce of energy into finishing the race. Their hard work represented the ongoing fight to end breast cancer for good.

Now that the Greater St. Louis Race is over, I am extremely excited to help plan our next events, including the Komen Mid-Missouri Race for the Cure in Columbia, where I will be in the fall, finishing my last year at Mizzou. I cannot wait to get my collegiate friends and peers involved with the upcoming events in Columbia.

 

Help Finish the Race Strong!

Komen Greater St. Louis Race for the Cure post-Race registration and fundraising continues through July 31.

Help us get closer to our 2016 event fundraising goal so we can help more people in our community who are most at risk of breast cancer and most in need of access to quality breast health care.

Thank you for your support!

www.komenmissouri.org/STLRace

Dine Out to Fight Breast Cancer on June 9

Fight breast cancer while dining out at some of your favorite St. Louis area restaurants and food trucks for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner on Thursday, June 9, during the 8^th Annual Susan G. Komen Missouri Dine Out for the Cure®. Participating restaurants and food trucks throughout the St. Louis metro area will donate a portion of their proceeds to Komen Missouri

Visit www.komenmissouri.org/DineOut for a complete list of restaurants and food trucks supporting the event.

Pappy’s Smokehouse will donate 50 percent of proceeds from Dine Out day to Komen Missouri.

“We’ve been so fortunate as a business that we want to give back any chance that we have,” said Tom Agusti, Pappy’s Smokehouse general manager. “Opening a restaurant in 2008 at such a hard time for the country and the economy, having to build and build, and grow and thrive, we try to give back to a good cause any chance we get, and there’s not too many better causes than Susan G. Komen Missouri. We hope people come out and support this good cause and support local businesses.”

Since the inaugural Dine Out fundraiser in 2009, more than 500 restaurants have donated more than $450,000 for local, lifesaving breast health services and global breast cancer research.

Seventy-five percent of the net funds raised through Dine Out for the Cure stays in the community to fund breast cancer screening, breast health education and patient navigation and support services for underserved and uninsured individuals. The remaining 25 percent funds cutting-edge, global breast cancer research.

Komen Missouri encourages Dine Out participants to “tweet and eat” by following @KomenMissouri on Twitter and Instagram and using the official event hashtag #KomenSTLDine.

Visit www.komenmissouri.org/DineOut for Dine Out details.

Visit www.komenmissouri.org to learn more about Susan G. Komen Missouri and its year-round mission to save lives and end breast cancer forever.

Komen Missouri Community Partner: SSM Breast Care: Empowering and Engaging Women

Susan G. Komen Missouri community-grant funding allows SSM Health Care’s SSM Breast Care: Empowering and Engaging Women program to provide care to patients who are low income and underinsured. Funding from Komen Missouri also helps the program aid male patients, who are often overlooked.

The Nurse Navigators and Project Coordinator for SSM Breast Care help patients through different types of care, including screening mammograms, diagnostic mammograms and breast health services and consultations.

“It takes a team to make SSM Breast Care successful,” says Tammy Hamma, project director. “Each of our roles plays an integral part in making this program possible.”

Tammy says she has a “direct responsibility to Susan G. Komen Missouri to ensure we are being good stewards of the funds we are given and that we are meeting the goals for the year. This program enables us to spread the inspiring Komen story and to emphasize the vital importance of annual screening mammograms in order to aid in early detection.”

The program educates women in the community to be their own greatest advocates for breast health.

Tammy recalls a young woman in St. Charles County with no insurance who was cared for recently by an SSM Breast Care Nurse Navigator. This young woman was caring for her mother, a Komen Missouri-funded patient battling breast cancer. In her mother’s final days, the young woman discovered a breast lump and promised her mother she would have it checked. The day after her mother’s funeral, the daughter called a Nurse Navigator at SSM Breast Care and received help and guidance through diagnostic procedures.

Fortunately for this young woman, the lump was benign, and she is now on a high-risk screening schedule to detect any other issues early.

“SSM Health Care has had the privilege of being partners with Susan G. Komen Missouri for 14 years,” says Tammy.

Susan G. Komen Missouri’s community grants help fund local breast cancer screening, breast health education and patient navigation and support services for those in our community who otherwise may not have access due to low income, lack of insurance or other barriers.

Komen Missouri Community Partner: Mercy Health Foundation of St. Louis’ Breast Cancer Screening and Education Program

The Breast Cancer Screening and Education Program at Mercy Health Foundation of St. Louis works with community agencies to help identify and schedule uninsured and underinsured, low-income women for breast screenings.

The program provides free mammograms and clinical breast exams, and educates about breast self-awareness at Mercy Breast Centers and in local communities through a mammography van. During screening events, a Nurse Navigator/Nurse Practitioner provides clinical breast exams, educates and provides care.

Angela Ruppel, the program’s project director and manager, explains that Susan G. Komen Missouri, “provides funding for mammograms and breast health services, clinical breast exams, breast self-awareness education and the availability of a mammography van and Nurse Navigators/Nurse Practitioners to assist and coordinate care for the uninsured and underinsured women in the community.”

Angela recalls a patient referred to the program who was “an uninsured 33-year old…single mom raising two children, working part time and going to school full time.”

The patient discovered a lump and was scheduled for a breast exam by Nurse Navigators/Nurse Practitioners, and then had a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound.

“Due to this program and generous funds from Komen Missouri, the patient was able to have her diagnostic testing completed, which showed two solid masses,” says Angela.

The patient was scheduled for a consultation and had a breast biopsy. She was positive for invasive ductal carcinoma, underwent a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction. Angela says this woman “now has continued with her schooling and has hope for the future for both her and her family.”

This is the 13^th year of Komen Missouri funding for this program.

Susan G. Komen Missouri’s community grants help fund local breast cancer screening, breast health education and patient navigation and support services for those in our community who otherwise may not have access due to low income, lack of insurance or other barriers.

We Love Early Birds!

Be among the first to register for the 2016 Komen Greater St. Louis Race for the Cure – and save!

The Susan G. Komen Greater St. Louis Race for the Cure® raises significant funds for local breast cancer programs and breast cancer research, celebrates breast cancer survivors and forever fighters, and honors those we have lost to the disease. 100% of the net proceeds are allocated to Komen Missouri’s mission of saving lives and ending breast cancer.

Early registration ends February 14.

Register today.

Your Race registration, fundraising and donations give strength to the local fight against breast cancer!

In Pursuit of an End to Breast Cancer: Trivia Night 2016

Join in the local fight against breast cancer at Susan G. Komen® Missouri’s 2^nd Annual Trivia Night on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, at the Maryland Heights Community Center. This FUN fundraiser benefits breast cancer research and local breast health programs funded by Komen Missouri.

Trivia tables are $200 for a team of eight. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and trivia begins at 7 p.m.

Trivia table reservations are open now!

Mike Colombo, investigative reporter for KMOV News 4 and native St. Louisan, will return as master of ceremonies.

The event will consist of 10 rounds of trivia with prizes for the top three teams. Guests also will be able to participate in a basket raffle, a delicious dessert raffle, 50/50 drawing and more.

The funds raised at the event will directly impact the breast health needs of local women, men and families. Seventy-five percent of the net funds raised by Komen Missouri stays in the local community to fund life-saving breast cancer screening, breast health education and patient navigation and support programs. The remaining 25 percent funds cutting-edge, global breast cancer research.

Registration in advance is required.

Our 2015 Trivia Night sold out, so don’t miss your chance to join the fun!

Visit www.komenmissouri.org/TriviaNight or call 314.569.3900 to reserve a table.

Introducing Susan G. Komen® Missouri!

We are thrilled to share exciting news!

Susan G. Komen® St. Louis and Susan G. Komen® Mid-Missouri are joining forces to make a bigger impact in the local fight against breast cancer and will operate as one entity: Susan G. Komen® Missouri. At the same time, we are expanding our service area to include five additional counties not previously served by Komen. Komen Missouri will serve 31 counties in Missouri and seven counties in southwestern Illinois.

We have a strong commitment to the people of Missouri and southwestern Illinois. For that reason, it made great sense to us to combine our resources as well as expand into additional counties (Gasconade and Monroe in Missouri and Bond, Calhoun and Jersey in Illinois).

Our mission drives all we do, and with this change we are continuing to put our mission and the people we serve first. As Komen Missouri, we will now have greater potential to strengthen our presence and our impact in the local fight against breast cancer. We will maximize grant funding to local breast health programs to help even more women and men across Missouri and southwestern Illinois access the best resources to find breast cancer early and then beat the disease.

As Komen Missouri, we will continue to fund breast cancer screening, breast health education and patient navigation and support services to local women and men who are most at risk and most in need, while also funding cutting-edge breast cancer research.

Our consolidated organization will combine staff and volunteer leadership, grant-making relationships and fundraising capacities to strengthen our operations, with the overall goal of maximizing the resources and support available for the entire – and now larger – service area.

Key Information About Komen Missouri

• Komen Missouri will operate from two offices, one in Greater St. Louis, based in Olivette, and one in Mid-Missouri, based in Columbia

• Each local Race for the Cure® will continue. The 2016 Greater St. Louis Race is scheduled for Saturday, June 11, in downtown St. Louis. The Mid-Missouri Race will take place in Columbia in fall 2016.

• Helen Chesnut, executive director of Komen St. Louis, will serve as executive director of Komen Missouri

• Renee Hall, board president of Komen St. Louis, will serve as president of Komen Missouri’s board of directors.

• Komen Missouri’s service area includes Adair, Audrain, Boone, Callaway, Camden, Chariton, Cole, Cooper, Franklin, Gasconade, Howard, Jefferson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, Maries, Miller, Moniteau, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Osage, Perry, Randolph, St. Charles, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, St. Louis City, St. Louis, Warren and Washington counties in Missouri; and Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties in Illinois

Komen Missouri staff and volunteers will continue to focus on the most important aspect of our work – translating the generosity of the people in our community into funds for programs and resources that will help save lives and end breast cancer forever.

Together with your continued support, we will make an impact in the local fight against breast cancer.

Same Mission. Same Races. More Places. New Name: Susan G. Komen Missouri.

 

Dine Out and Fight Breast Cancer on Thursday, October 8

Fight breast cancer one bite at a time on Thursday, October 8.

Just Dine Out for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner at participating restaurants throughout the St. Louis metro area. A portion of your tab will be donated to benefit breast health programs and breast cancer research funded by Komen St. Louis.

Dine Out 2015 Honorary Chair Josh Allen, Komen St. Louis Pink Tie Guy and founder/owner of Companion, invites you to Dine Out on October 8:

Click here to watch the Dine Out video.

This year, you can even Dine In for the Cure with GrubGo restaurant delivery service.

Visit the Dine Out for the Cure web page for event details and the list of participating restaurants.

Volunteer with Susan G. Komen® St. Louis

Use your talents in our promise to save lives and end breast cancer forever.

If you have a few hours a year, a few hours a month or a few hours a week to volunteer with Komen St. Louis, we have a place for you. Every minute you spend helping gives another minute of hope to those affected by breast cancer.

Special volunteer opportunities include Dine Out for the Cure Ambassadors, Trivia Night Planning Committee members and Wacoal Fit for the Cure volunteers.

Learn more about volunteering with Komen St. Louis.