BREAST CANCER AWARENESS

In 2007, the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign celebrates 22 years of educating women about breast cancer, especially the importance of detecting the disease in its earliest stages through screening mammography, clinical breast examination, and for women 20 years of age and older, breast self-examination.

We hope that you will join us in October and all year as we reach out to all women throughout the United States with our important messages about early detection and the value of early treatment if breast cancer is detected.

Link to more information about National Breast Cancer Awareness Month: NBCAM.

Here are some incredible speakers who address breast cancer and/or are survivors:

• Christine Clifford
   (CSP) , Minnesota USA --- 5.0k to 10.0k   
  When Christine Clifford's life was turned upside down with a diagnosis of breast cancer in 1994, she recognized that laughter provided a necessary release from the tension and anxiety. Searching for signs of humor in herself and her predicament, the more she laughed, the stronger she grew, and her first book and her organization, The Cancer Club, were born. Today, author of four award-winning books including Not Now...I'm Having a No Hair Day!, Our Family Has Cancer, Too! (written especially for children), Cancer Has Its Privileges: Stories of Hope & Laughter, and Your Guardian Angel's Gift, Christine speaks to audiences world-wide with her ground-breaking theories on the use of therapeutic humor. Don't forget to laugh!



• Linda Ellerbee
   New York USA --- 30.0k to 50.0k
  Linda Ellerbee is an outspoken journalist, award-winning television producer, best-selling author, one of the most sought-after speakers in America, a breast cancer survivor and a mom. Ellerbee began at CBS, then moved to NBC News, where, after covering politics, she cultivated a diverse following in the Œ80's with the pioneering late-night news program NBC News Overnight, which she wrote and anchored. Overnight was cited by the Columbia duPont Award it received as "the best written and most intelligent news program ever." In 1986, Ellerbee moved to ABC News to anchor and write Our World, a weekly prime-time historical series. Her work on Our World won her an Emmy for best writing.



• Susan Love, (M.D.)
    California USA --- 30.0k to 50.0k
  Dr. Susan M. Love is a pioneer in the field of women's health and breast cancer. Currently she is President and Medical Director of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation.  A former member of the National Cancer Advisory Board, she serves on the boards of the National Breast Cancer Coalition, Y-ME and the Young Survival Coalition. Dr. Love authored Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book, termed "the Bible for women with breast cancer" by The New York Times; a fully revised fourth edition is to be released October 2005.   Dr. Susan Love's Menopause and Hormone Book, first published in 1998 and revised in 2003, was one of the first to sound the alarm against the widespread use of postmenopausal hormones. In her ongoing quest to eradicate breast cancer, she has used every avenue from founding the national advocacy movement to starting companies, engaging in research and education.



• Rue McClanahan
    New York USA --- 25.0k to 30.0k
  Rue McClanahan, nominated for an Emmy four times as best actress in a comedy series for her role as Blanche on "The Golden Girls," won the award in 1987. She was also nominated for four Golden Globes and received a Golden Apple. Aside from "The Golden Girls," McClanahan is also known for her television role as Vivian Harmon in the award-winning series "Maude," which ran from 1972-1978. She starred in her own series, "Apple Pie," in 1978, and from 1982-1984, she played Aunt Fran on the series "Mama's Family." Her latest television role was as Betsy on the series "Safe Harbor" in 1999. McClanahan also starred in a season finale of "Touched by An Angel."



• Betty Rollin
    New York USA --- 10.0k to 15.0k   
  Betty Rollin is a TV correspondent, an accomplished author and a captivating speaker. A contributing correspondent for NBC News, her special reports for Nightly News included a series on the Native Americans of Pine Ridge, South Dakota, which won both the duPont and Emmy awards. She also contributes reports for PBS' Religion and Ethics Newsweekly. Rollin is the author of six books, including First You Cry, a moving story - the first of its kind - about her breast cancer and mastectomy. Published in 1976 and recently re-published in honor of the author's 25th "cancer anniversary", it received wide critical acclaim and was made into a television movie starring Mary Tyler Moore as Ms. Rollin.



• Nancy Brinker
    Florida USA --- 25.0k to 30.0k   
  When Nancy Brinker's sister, Suzy, died of breast cancer at the age of 36 in 1980, Nancy promised herself she would fulfill her sister's plea to help others battling the disease. In 1982, she established the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, today recognized as the nation's leading catalyst in the fight against breast cancer. Currently, the Komen Foundation boasts more than 75,000 volunteers working through a network of 118 U.S. and a growing number of international Affiliates.



• Libby Pataki
    New York USA --- Contact for fee schedule
  For more than 15 years, Libby Pataki has actively worked alongside her husband, Governor George E. Pataki, to raise awareness for a host of issues crucial to families, children and women's health. Her motto, "never wait for your ship to come in; row out to meet it" truly describes her approach to life.



• Beverly Kirkhart
    California United States --- 5.0k to 10.0k
  For 17 years, Beverly Kirkhart had lived a storybook existence. No one, least of all her, could have predicted it would end suddenly in divorce, bankruptcy, the loss of her home and the sacrifice of the business she had built from scratch and managed for over ten years. Through the worst of it, she used to joke to friends: "At least I have my health!" Then came the devastating news: "Beverly, you have breast cancer." This admired survivor made lemons from lemonadeŠand became her own hero.




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Here are some tips for media promotions:


Reporters and their editors pay attention to stories about real people. Local public officials and celebrities will often draw the media to any event. But messages from real women can be just as powerful, if not more so. Readers want to hear from people who have overcome difficult odds or changed a group of people's lives for the better.

• Make a list of all the news reporters in your community. Contact the managing editor or health editor at each of your local newspapers and magazines and the news directors or public affairs directors at each of your local television and radio stations. In each case, be gracious, communicate a clear and succinct message, be prompt in responding to their requests, and keep track of all contacts.

• If you want the media to attend your NBCAM event, send them a one-page media advisory, several weeks in advance, that briefly describes the "who, what, where, and when." Then send a reminder a few days before with any updates, and follow up with phone calls to encourage their attendance.

• Print all press materials (media advisories, press release, and public service announcements) on your organization's letterhead.

• Know your speaker's story before you put her "on air." Ask her every question that a reporter might ask. It will help her get comfortable telling her story, and you'll avoid any surprises that might steer the interview away from your main messages.

  For more information on Breast Cancer Awareness Month and additional media tips, please go to the official NBCAM site at:
  http://www.nbcam.com