Comments

By Komen Denver, May 18, 2010 10:48 am

Registration for the Komen Denver Race For The Cure is now open!

Participants can register online and Sponsors can get more information at www.komendenver.org.

The 5K run/walk, sponsored by the Denver Metropolitan Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure® is Denver’s largest event for breast health and breast cancer awareness and education. Over 54,000 people participated in last year’s Race and more than $2 million was raised.

WHEN: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3rd

WHERE: The Pepsi Center

“The Denver Race is always one of the biggest in the country,” said Michele Ostrander, executive director of the Denver Affiliate. “It’s a fun event; it’s a celebration. It is also a great chance to support our mission – to end breast cancer in our life times – a goal that could quite literally change the world as we know it.”

Comments

By Komen Denver, March 2, 2010 2:01 pm

No matter our background or culture, every woman is unique and different. So, when it comes to our health and how we care for ourselves, not all women can be approached the same way. For more than a decade the Denver Metropolitan Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure® has provided education, access and invaluable life-saving services to some of Colorado’s most underserved populations by hosting the Multicultural Conference.

This year’s conference had an amazing turn out of 300+ vibrant people from different ethnic backgrounds. The conference featured culturally appropriate workshops aimed at specific ethnic groups, informational sessions with medical professionals and food and entertainment – also offered the opportunity to understand our similarities and differences, share information, learn more about breast health care and meet women of diverse cultures and backgrounds.

The Multicultural Conference is sponsored by the American Cancer Society, the Women’s Wellness Connection and the Comprehensive Cancer Program.

Other members of the Conference’s planning committee included: the Asian Pacific Development Center, the Breast Cancer Network of Strength, the Center for African American Health, Clínica Tepeyac, the Colorado Cancer Research Program, the Colorado Asian Health and Education Promotion, the Deaf Community, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Jewish Family Services, Native American Cancer Research, the Philippine Nurses Association, Salud y Vida, and the Thai Buddhist Temple.

Take a look at images from the Multicultural Conference on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/komendenver

Comments

By Komen Denver, January 18, 2010 9:12 pm

“Power consists in one’s capacity to link his will with the purpose of others, to lead by reason and a gift cooperation” - President Woodrow Wilson

Michele Ostrander, executive director of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Denver Metropolitan Affiliate was recently named one of Denver’s most influential people by 5280 Magazine. Ostrander is in some pretty impressive company (deservedly so!). The list includes Denver Mayor, John Hickenlooper, U.S. Congresswoman Diana DeGette and Denver Nuggets Carmelo Anthony. Congratulations, Michele!! Check it out here: “The 5280 Fifty”.

Comments

By Komen Denver, December 28, 2009 11:12 am

At the Denver Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure® we have high expectations for 2010; we think it’s going to be a GREAT year! Our hearts are full of hope and optimism!! But, we’d like to remind everyone that we still need your help and that there is still plenty of time to give generously to the cause.

As part of your New Year’s resolution, we hope that you will join us in our fight against breast cancer by making your tax-deductible year-end gift today The simple fact is that the needs in our community are outpacing the dollars the Komen Denver Affiliate has to provide assistance. The fact is that despite being able to give more than $2.8 million to 35 different organizations throughout our service area during this past year, there were more than $1 million in requests we were unable to consider.

Nicole Davis and Daughter Abigail (Courtesy of Sandy Puc' Studios)

Please help us continue to be able to provide assistance and education to women across Colorado, no matter their age, race or economic situation. Women like Nicole Davis, who just last year, at the age of 25 and a brand new mom, was diagnosed with breast cancer. And women like 63-year-old Jeanette Oxelson, who, because she was uninsured at the time she discovered the lump in breast, spent critical months being turned away by “the system” until finally, by the grace and good luck of her “angels” (and her own dogged determination to not take “no” for an answer, especially when her life was on the line!!), received a grant from the Affiliate to be treated at the Caritas Clinic.

The difference you can make: $100 could pay for one mammogram or one day of post-surgery home health care; $250 ($20 per month) could cover five clinical breast exams; $500 ($41 per month) could provide five diagnostic ultrasounds; and $1000 could allow us to provide 10 mammograms for those who might otherwise go without. Of the funds raised by the Affiliate, 75 percent stays in our local community and is awarded to nonprofits providing breast cancer education, screening, treatment, and support services for medically underserved individuals. The remaining 25 percent funds international breast cancer research.

Make your tax-deductible year-end gift today by visiting www.komendenver.org and clicking on the “Donate Now” button.

We thank you for your support and generosity.

Happy New Year from the Denver Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Comments

By Komen Denver, December 23, 2009 12:30 pm

Pink Yoga was created two years ago in order to create a safe and healing space for women with breast cancer to practice yoga and find community.

My name is Buffy Barfoot and I am a yoga teacher in Denver, My mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother all had breast cancer. When I began the process of creating this class, I could not have imagined the beauty and rich community that would unfold. The women who came quickly knitted into a supportive and diverse kula (community of the heart), and brought a current of vitality and wisdom into every class. They truly love, help and support each other without the heaviness and sedentary effects a support group can sometimes have. They are moving together, creating beauty together, and finding such nourishment as individuals within the fabric of a bigger garment.

My intention in creating Pink Yoga is to weave a space for these amazing women faced with this terrible disease to come together and harness their beauty and power and potential to heal. Pink Yoga addresses the needs of women at any stage of breast cancer, from those currently in treatment to those years into their remission.

The weekly practice includes meditation, breathing techniques that open energy channels in the body and encourage healing, and yoga postures designed to strengthen and free the upper body and open the heart. Every student is honored at the door, regardless of her experience, abilities, or limitations. The themes and contemplations offered for each class are built around issues related to breast cancer.

Pink Yoga provides a safe place to nourish all women, and allows the vibrant and positive healing to begin. Anyone is welcome, including those who do not have cancer but would like to support and be a pearl in this luminous strand of women.

Some key benefits to a regular yoga practice include:

-Increase in energy
-Heightened awareness and clarity
-Deeper sense of joy and connection to a larger current
-Proven decrease in menopausal symptoms sometimes induced by cancer treatments
-Increase in flexibility and muscle strength and decrease in joint pain
-Therapeutic benefits related to post-surgery
-Overall increase in health and well-being
-Increase in personal empowerment and self esteem

The important details:

Vital Yoga (Cherry Creek location)
2727 E 2nd Ave
Denver CO

2-3:30 p.m. every Saturday
For more information or questions contact Buffy Barfoot at 720-212-9191 or buffymiranda@gmail.com

Here’s what a few of the women who have participated in Pink Yoga have to say about their experience:

“It has been a gift to practice yoga with women in various stages of breast cancer treatment and survival. It feels like a very authentic way to share and grow a friendship. Who knew that taking Pink Yoga ‘for my friend with breast cancer’ would turn out to be one of the most enriching experiences of my life.” Nancy

“What Pink Yoga Means to me…
a community of like-minded women
some of us fight breast cancer in our bodies
others of us help in the fight by being…present and being strong.

Pink Yoga means reaching out to another being who is afraid and showing her that things might just turn out OK. Pink Yoga is also being the one who is afraid, and sharing the fear with the others, whose love and strength are palpable. Pink Yoga is being present in my own life and in the life of the community.” Sheila

Comments

By Komen Denver, September 18, 2009 12:56 pm

A great story from 9News:

On the 9th of every month we remind 9NEWS viewers about the importance of breast self exam and why early detection of breast cancer is so critical.