By Survivingbreastcancer.org
Some things are priceless. For people affected by breast cancer, support, information, and community top the list of essential items with no price tag. They are the very pillars of the mission of Surviving Breast Cancer. At the heart of our mission is the belief that well-being and quality of life are fundamental parts of the breast cancer journey and a significant complement to a person’s medical treatment.
While the above may be invaluable, providing them still costs money. We greatly appreciate our donors’ support, and we think it’s important to explain all the wonderful things your contributions provide. One of our supporters thought it was important enough to mention it in a note to us:
“My wicked smart friends at Survivingbreastcancer.org are starting Pinktober off right by highlighting a story that goes beyond the pink ribbon. Please listen and if you do support a breast cancer cause this month, make sure you know where the money is going.” Noel, MA
Support Groups/Meet and Greets
Fostering community is at the very core of our mission. Breast Cancer Survivor & Friends Meet and Greets is one of our premier events. Like many other events, since the pandemic, the meet-up happens online now and continues to build a strong sense of community. The importance of community to humans can’t be understated. A growing body of research shows that the need to connect socially with others is as basic as our need for food, water, and shelter. There’s also growing evidence that social support is good for a person’s health—even improve cancer survival. Each $25.00 donation enables us to host a Thursday Night Thrivers meet-up and participants share the impact of those events with us:
“Thank you for hosting this amazing event, and for all of the other things, you continue to do to keep us all educated. I feel such a sense of community, and I’ve only come to two Thrivers’ meetings!” Charmica, MI
“Thank you for last night! I was so happy to celebrate the start of 2020 with such a dynamic and friendly group of women. The conversation transcended even beyond breast cancer stories, thus creating even stronger connections.” Laura D., MA
This summer, we convened 155 Survivingbreastcancer.org community members for our first annual Summer Soiree! Attendees received care packages to enjoy an evening of making connections, laughing and enjoying some relaxing rock painting!
Check out the video to catch the highlights!
Educational Materials
Donations also make it possible for us to ensure that our nearly 6,500 website visitors each month have access to valuable information, including necessary information about breast cancer, risk factors, symptoms, genetic testing, and more. Educational information is provided in many forms, such as podcasts.
Each contribution of $250 makes you a member of our Producer’s Club and enables us to produce a podcast that features conversations with medical professionals (doctors, radiologists, oncologists), caregivers, and advocates. Unless you wish to remain anonymous, we like to give a shout-out to our Producers during a podcast episode that corresponds with their contribution date. And in true producer style, members of the Producer’s Club are also invited to share feedback with the podcast host and share suggestions for future podcasts. To date, 30,000 people have downloaded our podcasts, motivating us to continue to bring podcasts to our community.
“I just finished listening to the most recent podcasts with Alicia Duncan and WOW!!! I wanted to laugh and cry! So much of what she said was so relatable!” Tammy, CA
The financial support we receive also makes it possible for us to create blogs that cover a wide range of topics. Each post costs $100 and allows us to share timely information, helpful tips, and personal stories that resonate with others.
“Oh, how I can relate to ALL of this! I was 35 and pregnant after two miscarriages...Thank you for baring your soul. The waves that your words create are a never-ending ripple.” Trish, NH
A Boost of Confidence
A $500 contribution allows us to mail out a care package as a surprise to someone diagnosed with breast cancer that would not otherwise receive such a gift. When someone is diagnosed with breast cancer it is hard to take the time they need to prioritize themselves with self-love and self-care.
Beauty may only be skin deep, but sometimes just looking good can deliver a boost of confidence! These gift packages are filled with a combination of non-toxic makeup and other products and serves as a fantastic opportunity to help someone feel good.
We are grateful for every type of generous support we receive, whether it’s an annual contribution, a legacy donation, or an endowment that helps us create educational material, host meet-ups, or support our health and wellness programs. We also welcome and encourage donors to design their fundraising efforts and provide suggestions to help you get started.
Taking Our Minds Off of Cancer
Our newest initiative, the Breast Cancer Book Club will be launching November 1st. In partnership with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) we will be hosting our community Breast Cancer Book Club.
The Breast Cancer Book Club is a monthly virtual book club for breast cancer patients and survivors. Unlike the traditional support group, where breast cancer is the usual topic of discussion, this book club is designed to take our patients minds OFF of cancer, while still providing opportunities for support and connection! Your $35 donation enables us to provide a book for a breast cancer survivor in our Book Club. We believe that there should be no barriers to access and your donation helps us insure that anyone interested in joining our Breast Cancer Book Club is able to without worrying about the cost of the materials. Make a recurring monthly donation to sure we can fund our survivors for one month and beyond! Learn More.
You can be sure that all gifts serve as a foundation of our community. With your help, we can continue to deliver hope.
Please feel free to contact our Executive Director Laura at, laura@survivingbreastcancer.org to discuss legacy endowments as we honor the living and memories of our loved ones.
Want to know where we are headed? Below are our Current and Stretch Charity Fundraising Goal and Funds Disbursement
$5,000 website development
· Flush out members area
· Special content for members only or early access to sneak peaks of upcoming podcasts, etc.
$10,000 provides experts in counseling, grief services, social workers, physical therapist and nurse navigators to moderate group discussions boards.
· Can also help us secure experts and medical professionals to review our blogs and content so that we can say “Written by xxx and medically reviewed by xxx” thus strengthening our content.
$25,000 Build out a breast cancer buddy program matching the newly diagnosed with a breast cancer mentor with a similar diagnosis who is a few years out.
$100,000 Build a curriculum around breast cancer prevention and disseminating it into high schools and freshman seminar classes around the county.
$500,000 purchase Retreat House/Farm.
$1,000,000 hire 5 FTEs (IT, Marketing, Events Planning, Distribution, and Education)
$5,000,000 hire 20 FTEs to extend personal outreach into 20 Regional Territories (working with the Underserved Communities)
$10,000,000 scale up BC Virtual Patient Care Platform to serve global community (UK, Australia, Canada, India, S Africa, China, Japan)
Love What We Do? Start Your Own Fundraising Campaign on Social Media
It's easy to start a fundraiser on social media! Below are tutorials on how to set up your fundraiser on Facebook and Instagram and raise donations for survivingbreastcancer.org