Become an Advocate!

Komen Advocacy Alliance

 The Virginia Blue Ridge Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure® is dedicated to making a strong impact within the communities it serves. We are hard at work using our funding to launch successful campaigns focused on creating awareness and providing ongoing education for women of all ages. But it doesn’t stop with us—we’re just the beginning. To make a big difference—to start a true movement—we need people like you to help us raise awareness and make things happen! 

This year, Susan G. Komen for the Cure® invested more than $40 million in communities so their affiliate programs could determine what was most critical in their service areas and use their funding as needed. The Virginia Blue Ridge Affiliate has taken on this challenge with much enthusiasm and is dedicated to producing measurable results year after year. We’ve been hard at work serving women in our 26-city and county region and members of our board have traveled into the political realm to help ensure everything possible is being done to help eradicate breast cancer in the Greater Roanoke Valley.

What we need for a cure.
This year, Kathleen “Kat” Werner, Director at Large,  attended the Annual Affiliate Leadership Conference in Dallas, TX where she returned with a wealth of information about steps affiliates can take within their communities to ensure all needs are being met. Werner also attended Komen’s 2010 National Lobby Day in Washington D.C. “We were able to meet with six Virginia Congressmen and two Senators asking them to sign a letter to Secretary Sibelius asking for Health and Human Services to release all research that’s been conducted on alternative screening techniques. We also asked for renewed funding for the National Breast Cancer and Cervical Cancer early detection program which expires at the end of this year,” explains Werner.

We are part of an organization that is recognized globally for its dedication to filling existing gaps in breast health and breast cancer needs. We are dedicated to working with local medical experts and community leaders to conduct community needs assessments. These community profiles are then used to establish local grant application and review processes consistent with Komen's promise to save lives and end breast cancer forever. While education and awareness is important in the battle to find a cure, it takes more than that so show a significant impact—it takes action. Communities dedicated to creating a movement will ultimately show more solid increases in preventative measures such as early detection through self-exams and mammograms.

Why we need your help.
Women who actively practice what they’ve learned will dramatically increase their chances of early detection and diagnosis, which causes a decrease in late stage cancer detection. And what does this really mean? An increased cure rate and less women dying from breast cancer! This is why it is so important to have the community understand the need to act. It’s important to know the facts—but it’s a matter of saving lives when you act on what you’ve learned.

If you’re ready to help your community take action, The Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Advocacy Alliance (KAA) is the non-partisan voice for over 2.5 million breast cancers survivors and the people who love them. Our mission is to translate the Komen promise to end breast cancer forever into action at all levels of government to discover and deliver the cures. To stay informed or get involved in Public Policy efforts that can help end breast cancer forever and/or aid women struggling with breast cancer now, sign up to be an e-Champion for the Cure.

If you want to use your energy and passion to improve our local, state and national laws in regard to breast cancer, we want your help! No experience is necessary, we’ll teach you how. Join the Public Policy team at Greater Roanoke Komen for the Cure! Click, check ‘volunteering’, and specify Public Policy in the comment box.

Who we are.
Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and launched the global breast cancer movement. The Greater Roanoke Valley Affiliate of Komen for the Cure is working to better the lives of those facing breast cancers in the local community by joining more than 1 million breast cancer survivors and activists around the globe as part of the world’s largest and most progressive grassroots network fighting breast cancer. Up to 75 percent of net proceeds generated by the Affiliate stay in the Roanoke Valley Area. The remaining income goes to the national Susan G. Komen for the Cure Grants Program to fund research.
 
The Komen Virginia Blue Ridge Affiliate is part of the 125-member Affiliate network of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, the world’s largest and most progressive grassroots network fighting to end breast cancer forever. We dedicate our time to 26 cities & counties in Virginia. Including Alleghany, Amherst, Bath, Bedford, Bland, Botetourt, Buena Vista City, Campbell, Carroll, Craig, Floyd, Franklin, Giles, Grayson, Henry, Lexington City, Lynchburg City, Montgomery, Patrick, Pittsylvania, Pulaski, Roanoke, Roanoke City, Rockbridge, Salem City, and Wythe. As a local affiliate, we serve as the face and voice of Komen’s global breast cancer movement, mobilizing millions of everyday people through activities like the Komen Race for the Cure® Series, the world’s largest and most successful education and fundraising event for breast cancer.

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Contact Kathleen Werner to See How You Can Help