Prevention "Cycles" through the Year with Breakaway from Cancer

Another year of Breakaway from Cancer is coming to a close, and 2010 seemed to be bigger and better than the last!

While the campaign and our partners are always available, year around, to provide resources to men and women across the country in cancer prevention through survivorship, we wrapped up our last event of the season in Austin, TX at the LiveStrong Ride. The LiveStrong Ride was the last of four LiveStrong Challenges that we participated in, in addition to the Dempsey Challenge in Lewiston, ME.  Prevent Cancer met hundreds of individuals and gave out hundreds of brochures with information about risk reduction, screening and prevention.

Looking back on the year, Breakaway from Cancer hosted two charity cycling rides to raise money for programs, services and research within our partner organizations. Thousands of men, women and children came out to participate. We then had the pleasure of travelling from Sacramento, CA to Thousand Oaks, CA with the Amgen Tour of California (ATOC,) meeting passionate cancer survivors or individuals with stories of early detection along the way. In four of the ATOC host cities we honored cancer survivors with our Breakaway Champion award – the words courageous and inspirational only begin to describe these men and women.

Just two weeks later, Breakaway from Cancer hosted our first policy roundtable discussion called “Striking the Balance.” This panel of experts identified unmet needs of focus within health policy and how to address them. The podcast can be accessed at the Prevent Cancer website or at the Breakaway from Cancer. 

Also over the summer we brought Breakaway from Cancer to Capitol Hill. We were joined by Members of Congress and staff at this event which highlighted campaign resources for Members and staff directing their constituents in need of information and assistance to the campaign and its partners.

Prevent Cancer and our partners the Cancer Support Community, the Patient Advocate Foundation, the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship and sponsor, Amgen, are looking forward to 2011. Stay tuned for updates on an expanded website, more in our Striking the Balance Stories, and many opportunities to become involved!