As October rolls around, most collegiettes welcome fall fashion, pumpkin spice lattes, and autumn in New England. Some might notice the pink ribbons, pink hair extensions, and constant offers at check out counters to “Donate a dollar and help promote Breast Cancer Awareness!” At first glance, this might seem like a great thing. People are finally giving breast cancer the level of concern that it deserves. However, some have started to speak out about October and breast cancer awareness, bringing to light the need for attention to shift towards helping patients and their families, not raising awareness about an issue that is already of the utmost importance to many people. I spoke with Notre Dame collegiette Jessie Casamassima, who describes breast cancer as an issue “very near and dear to [her] heart.”
Jessie has had first-hand experience dealing with breast cancer and the effects that it can have on patients and their families, as her mom battled with Stage IV breast cancer for five years. She has been involved with a variety of nonprofit organizations that help breast cancer patients and was able to provide me with some advice as to which organizations have the greatest impact on families in need of support.
Jessie brought to my attention how difficult it is to know which groups help patients and their families the most, as well as what a great deal of non-profits use their donation money to fund. She suggested a variety of techniques that can be used to determine how a non-profit is using the money that they receive from donors. Jessie told me that some foundations “host informative retreats for breast cancer patients and help countless families in need on a personal level.”
She specifically mentioned an organization called Breast Cancer Options (BCO), which is located in Kingston, New York, and hosts a summer camp for children of breast cancer patients, where she works as a counselor. These programs are extremely effective because they help patients directly and can provide a support system to those diagnosed with breast cancer as well as to their families.
“Another indication that your donation will have a worthy impact is if that organization focuses in metastatic, or Stage IV, breast cancer,” Jessie explained. She informed me that very little research is being conducted about this stage, since patients diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer are determined to be incurable and have to jump from one treatment to another, staying on each for as long as it’s effective. Jessie points out that it is “much easier to focus on the cheery, pink stories of hope and cure than the darker stories of those innumerable women living each day with a looming deadline. An organization which realizes the importance of this cause is Metastatic Breast Cancer Network.” She also mentioned another organization, SHARE, which runs a helpline daily that gives women diagnosed with breast cancer the opportunity to talk to knowledgeable survivors and ask questions or express concerns that they may have.
Jessie wrote an article that was featured on MyCommunitySource.com, which ended with an insightful remark: “Despite the yearly inundation of pink, breast cancer research has a long, long way to go. We need funding for research into more treatment methods and an actual cure for Stage IV breast cancer, not Facebook message chains encouraging girls to post similar statuses… think about where your efforts will really have a beneficial effect.”
Some other organizations that Jessie recommended donating to or getting involved with are National Breast Cancer Coalition, Reach for Recovery, Young Survival Coalition, and Breast Cancer Resource Center. A message to all BU collegiettes: please remember to perform a monthly breast self-exam and get regular clinical breast exams and mammograms to increase the likelihood that if breast cancer is diagnosed, it is found early and can be curable.