PreCheck Celebrates Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2013

PreCheck Celebrates Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2013
Senior Director of Marketing

To promote awareness and action throughout the month of October, we at PreCheck have kicked off our very own "Sign Your Name" Campaign. We want employees to show their support and to remember those they've lost, root for those they know who are currently fighting the battle and praise those they know who have won the fight against breast cancer. This is an issue that is very close to our hearts at PreCheck, which is why we are kicking off October with this campaign. We have posted pink ribbons throughout our two offices and have asked employees to sign their names on the ribbons to show their support.

Two of our brave ladies have recently been affected by breast cancer—and we applaud their courage and efforts in the fight against this disease. Rhonda Kellum, our Client Services Lead, is a breast cancer survivor and is an advocate for early detection. More recently, Gloria Satcherwhite, Sr. Human Resources Generalist/Compensation Analyst at PreCheck, is currently fighting the disease and spearheading this month's awareness campaign across the company. Together, these PreCheck warriors are wearing pink daily throughout the month of October so that when people take a look at them, they will see splashes of pink accessories as a reminder. This is their own personal campaign called "Think Pink!" They haven't asked anyone to wear pink every day, but they will! Of course, they shared with me they'd love for their fellow PreCheckers to join them and showing their support! There will also be a "Pink Lemonade Stand Against Breast Cancer" event as part of the month's planned activities.

For the rest of the month, PreCheck has planned a series of activities to keep the momentum going. Our company will be raffling off a "Fight Like a Girl" gift basket filled with all sorts of wonderful items. On Friday, October 4th, there will be an "Employee's Personal Journey through Breast Cancer Talk" event along with pink cupcakes. There will also be a "Pink Out" Day, where employees are encouraged to wear as much pink as they can for one day. Additionally, PreCheck is sponsoring a company team that will participate in the Susan G. Komen Annual Walk to raise funds to find the cure. 

Our Marketing department has even created pink t-shirts to be worn for the walk and that will be made available for purchase—with proceeds benefiting the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The t-shirts sport a "Fight For The Cure 2013" Breast Cancer Awarness graphic complete with a "Team PreCheck" ribbon, the PreCheck logo on the back and sleeve options for Breast Cancer Survivors and Warriors.

A Few Facts About Breast Cancer

  • About 1 in 8 U.S. women (just under 12%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime.
  • In 2013, an estimated 232,340 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 64,640 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer.
  • About 2,240 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to be diagnosed in men in 2013. A man's lifetime risk of breast cancer is about 1 in 1,000.
  • Breast cancer incidence rates in the U.S. began decreasing in the year 2000, after increasing for the previous two decades. They dropped by 7% from 2002 to 2003 alone. One theory is that this decrease was partially due to the reduced use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) by women after the results of a large study called the Women's Health Initiative were published in 2002. These results suggested a connection between HRT and increased breast cancer risk.
  • About 39,620 women in the U.S. were expected to die in 2013 from breast cancer, though death rates have been decreasing since 1989—with larger decreases in women under 50. These decreases are thought to be the result of treatment advances, earlier detection through screening, and increased awareness.
  • For women in the U.S., breast cancer death rates are higher than those for any other cancer, besides lung cancer.

How is your organization joining the fight against breast cancer? We'd love to hear from you!

Source: www.breastcancer.org