How Will YOUR Company Celebrate Breast Cancer Warriors this October?

Every 2 minutes, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer.

Chances are you, your employees, or their families have been impacted by breast cancer. Breast Cancer Awareness Month will be in full swing in just 2 short months.

It’s time to start planning your company’s pink initiative! And as you do, think about how you will get your employees involved to not only bring awareness to this all-too common disease, but to celebrate your breast cancer warriors, and to give to a cause in a manner indicative of your work culture.

According to the American Cancer Society, 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. Breast cancer is more common after menopause, but younger women can develop it, as can men (though rare). The encouraging news is that breast cancer death rates have decreased by 39% since 1989.(1) But breast cancer remains a significant health problem. As Florida surgeon John A.P. Rimmer explains, “Breast cancer is not a single disease. Some types are more aggressive than others. Cancer cells are nasty and sophisticated. The amount of knowledge we have is huge, but the cellular mechanism is hugely complex.” (2) In other words, we still have a long way to go to get to that cure.

[Bring Awareness to Your Employees]

Awareness efforts should include the basics on early detection: the importance of getting a mammogram and a discussion with your doctor regarding when and how frequently you should schedule your mammograms. In addition, awareness messaging should include the importance of understanding CONTROLLABLE risk factors like getting physical exercise (including workouts AND movement work breaks); eating a healthy diet that reduces inflammation in your body; and avoiding excessive alcohol use.

Here are 5 easy awareness-based activities for your company’s October Breast Cancer Awareness initiative:

1. Pink Ribbons.Employees wear a small pink ribbon pin throughout October.
2. Monday Messaging. Send a weekly email with a call to action. 
3. Casual Pink Friday.Employees wear casual pink clothes to work. Option to suggest a donation to your breast cancer charity in exchange for Casual Pink Friday.
4. Pink Potluck.Organize a Pink Potluck Lunch. Consider recipes with beets, rhubarb, raspberries, watermelon. Avoid pink doughnut-type foods that may contain unhealthy trans fats.
5. Awareness Lunch ‘n Learns. Engaging topics for awareness-based seminars trend toward lifestyle topics. Some of the more popular topics FIT2order offers include workshops on nutrition (Anti-Cancer Superfoods and Deflame Your Body ) and exercise including the importance of exercise post treatment (Breast Cancer Recovery band2FIT resistance band).

 [Celebrate Breast Cancer Warriors]

Breast Cancer Awareness month is not just about the facts and statistics surrounding the disease. It’s about honoring the survivors, the Warriors. In her book, This is Cancer, Laura Holms Haddad, a survivor and mom of three who was diagnosed at age 37 with stage 4 breast cancer, reminds us of the human experience--from the physical pain of treatment to the emotional struggles to the effects on marriage and children. (4)

Be they employees, retirees, vendors, spouses, or friends and family members of your employees, celebrate the Breast Cancer Warriors who have in some way, directly or indirectly, touched the culture of your company--both survivors and those who have passed.

Ways to celebrate Breast Cancer Warriors include the following:

1. Breast Cancer Awareness Wreath. Get a large wreath from your local craft store and cut up pink ribbons. Have employees write the name of a Breast Cancer Warrior on the ribbon and tie it on the wreath.
2. Survivor Lunch ‘n Learn. Invite a breast cancer survivor or panel of survivors to informally share her/their journey.
3. Company Blog. Invite employees to send pictures and stories of Breast Cancer Warriors to be shared via your company’s blog.
4. Serenity FLOW Poster. In conjunction with a donation-based yoga class (see below), hang up a poster and have employees write the name and something about the Survivor to which they will dedicate their participation in the class.

Check out Ellicott Dredges’ Serenity Class and Poster. Most were men whose lives have been touched by breast cancer.

 [Charity Give- Back]

Your company’s give-back can be in the form of volunteering or raising money or both. Choose your charity based on your company’s culture. If you choose a charity that supports research, your company’s efforts should also include messaging on the importance of research in treating this complex disease. If your company is closely-knitted to your community, consider a local, grass roots charity. If you have a recent survivor within your company, allow her to choose a charity. 

1. Local 5-K Races. Whether your company sponsors the run or organizes a team to volunteer at a water station, your local 5K races offer a variety of give-back opportunities.
2. Donation Jar. Announce that at the end of October, you will match what the employees donate.
3. 50/50 Office Raffle. Organize an old-fashioned raffle with 50% of the proceeds donated to your charity and 50% to the winner.
4. Donation-based Serenity Yoga Class. Pictured in the image below are Howard County Public School teachers participating in FIT2order’s Serenity Yoga for Breast Cancer Warriors. The program includes a dedication poster (I am flowing in honor of…), email messaging, and a relaxing yoga class with music, readings, healing touch and essential oils honoring the journey of ALL Breast Cancer Warriors. Proceeds were donated to a Baltimore-based breast cancer charity, The Red Devils.

With a small budget and careful planning, you can plan an effective, meaningful Breast Cancer Awareness campaign for your employees to help speed up the race for a cure.

(*NOTE: Within the 6 minutes of reading this blog, 3 women have been diagnosed with breast cancer.)

 SOURCES:

4. Center for Disease Control. Breast Cancer Statistics. https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/statistics/index.htm
5. American Cancer Society. Lifestyle-Related Breast Cancer Risk Factors. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/breast-cancer/risk-and-prevention/lifestyle-related-breast-cancer-risk-factors.html
6. Pietrangelo, A. Good News, Bad News on Breast Cancer Survivor Rate. Healthline. Oct 16, 2017. https://www.healthline.com/health-news/breast-cancer-survival-rate#1\ 
7. Holmes Haddad, L. This is Cancer. Seal Press. 2016