OUR FIRST YEAR . . . or How We Came to Be.
In 1993 a group of women gathered on the Capitol steps in Washington, DC, to stop Congress from voting on a bill that would take away much needed funds for breast cancer research. Hundreds of women from all over the country came to demand that the breast cancer epidemic be stopped. Fran Visco led this group of women and formed the National Breast Cancer Coalition. Six breast cancer survivors went home and vowed to begin a coalition for women in North Carolina.
Then, on a wintry Saturday in January 1994, fifty-three women gathered in the auditorium at Elon College to discuss the formation of a statewide grassroots breast cancer advocacy group. The women came from Asheville and Wilmington, Greensboro and Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Wilson, Rocky Mount and Fayetteville, Charlotte, Mebane and Winston-Salem, and Greenville and Pinehurst.
In just two hours, the Breast Cancer Coalition of North Carolina was born, complete with officers, mission statement and goals. The women pulled out cash and wrote checks and funded the fledgling group with over $500. Their mission—eradicate breast cancer.
By the end of the first year, the Coalition was over 350 members strong, composed not only of breast cancer survivors, but also physicians, medical practitioners, suppliers of wigs and prostheses, researchers, health educators, women’s health advocates and others touched by this disease.
Soon after the Coalition was formed, four members attended a seminar at the University of North Carolina for breast cancer researchers and physicians. Not knowing how they would be received, to their surprise they were welcomed and invited to attend many more.
BCCNC members are now on various committees and in multiple research projects. They have interviewed scores of people dedicated to working on cancer treatments and prevention. They have attended research symposiums and participated on panel discussions. They have made their presence known in Washington, DC, where they successfully lobby for increased funding for breast cancer research.
And they still found time to publish a newsletter, "Staying Abreast", sponsor two BCCNC conferences in 1994 and 1995 and organize themselves into a Board of Directors and committees.
Why is the Coalition important to North Carolina?
While early detection is helping to slow the mortality rate from breast cancer, the incidence is still rising. New research and information is coming forth every day, but it is slow to get to the public. We hope to be a clearinghouse and statewide resource of information so that those who share the common concern for breast cancer can work together.
What are our goals?
To increase public awareness of breast cancer concerns through public relations and education