WBCC is an alliance of individuals and organizations committed to halting the alarming incidence of breast cancer in Wisconsin. Our mission is to bring Wisconsin voices together to Stand Up and Speak Out about breast cancer through Education, Collaboration and Legislation.
Beyond the Pink Ribbon Advocacy Training: What Else You Can Do in the Fight Against Breast Cancer - Fox Valley
Spots are still available! Email ellenvh@standupandspeakout.org or call 414.640.7160 to register.
Join the Wisconsin Breast Cancer Coalition for an advocacy training and educational event on June 20th in Kimberly, WI. Keynote speaker, Congressman Steve Kagen, will discuss what he is doing in the legislature to help end breast cancer and the importance of constituent involvement. This will be followed by a panel discussion on how citizens can participate in the process of policy change by being well-informed advocates. Panelists include State Representative Thomas Nelson, State Representative Penny Bernard Schaber, Government Affairs Expert Sharon Brosnan, and others.
Following a luncheon, break out sessions will be offered on topics ranging from participation in WBCC State Advocacy Day to genetics, environmental links to cancer, and prevention.
All participants will receive a WBCC Advocacy Tool Kit with information on how to contact state and federal representatives, sample scripts and letters, and tips for productive communications with legislators and their aides. You don’t want to miss this unique and educational event that is free and open to the public.
This event is made possible by generous donations from BLC Community Bank, Little Chute, WI and its employees.
WBCC Awarded a 2009 Programatic Capacity Building Grant from the National Breast Cancer Coalition
WBCC is one of the 14 recipients of a 2009 Programmatic Capacity Building grant from the National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund (NBCCF). Awardees were selected by a competitive process among invited membership organizations. This grant, which is generously made possible by the Breast Cancer Fund of National Philanthropic Trust, is a portion of the $190,000 awarded as part of the Best Practices in Breast Cancer Advocacy Awards Program®.
“We are excited to make this opportunity available to the WBCC for their difficult and important work to help in our mission to end breast cancer,” said Frances M. Visco, president of NBCCF. “I am confident they will use the grant to continue programs that will have a lasting impact on systems of research, access and public policy.”
WBCC is a statewide organization that is recognized as the premier resource on breast cancer policy issues and brings Wisconsin voices together to stand up and speak out about breast cancer. WBCC hosts educational forums open to the public throughout the year; publishes a quarterly newsletter, Collective Voice, to provide information on advocacy efforts, research topics, and events hosted by WBCC and other cancer organizations; has produced an award winning booklet, “You’ve Just Been Diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Is a Clinical Trial Right for You?”, which is distributed statewide via hospitals, clinics, and oncology centers so that women have an explanation of this treatment option soon after diagnosis; and organizes an annual meeting, inviting the public to hear a keynote speak on an issue important to breast cancer advocates, such as environmental risks, new diagnostic methods, new research and more.
The other winning organizations receiving grants are: Alamo Breast Cancer Foundation (San Antonio, TX); The Annie Appleseed Project (Delray Beach, FL); Breast Cancer Alliance of Greater Cincinnati (Cincinnati, OH); Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition (Wilmington, DE); Family Services Center of Coffee County (Enterprise, AL); Georgia Breast Cancer Coalition Fund (Woodstock, GA); Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation (Bainbridge Island, WA); Linda Creed Breast Cancer Foundation (Philadelphia, PA); Nueva Vida (Washington, DC); Rhode Island Breast Cancer Coalition (Coventry, RI); SHARE (New York, NY); Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation (Richmond, VA); and the Women of Color Breast Cancer Survivors’ Support Project (Inglewood, CA).
The National Breast Cancer Coalition is a grassroots membership organization dedicated to ending breast cancer through the power of action and advocacy. Along with the National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund, its research and education arm, NBCC’s main goals are: to promote research into the cause of, and optimal preventive and treatment interventions for, breast cancer through increased federal funding, fostering of innovation and collaborative approaches, and improved accountability; to improve access to quality breast cancer care for all women, from screening through diagnosis, treatment and care, particularly for the underserved and uninsured, through legislation and change in systems of delivery of health care; and to educate and empower women and men as advocates, increasing the involvement and influence of those living with breast cancer and other breast cancer activists wherever and whenever breast cancer decisions are made. Please visit www.StopBreastCancer.org for more information.
WBCC Mourns the Loss of Mildred Leigh-Gold
WBCC is deeply saddened to lose one of the strongest advocates in our efforts to end breast cancer in Wisconsin. Mildred Leigh-Gold was a long time WBCC supporter, 3-term Board Director, and true heroine for those affected by breast cancer. Words cannot describe how much we will miss this special person. Read about Mildred on JSOnline.
Our recent Beyond the Pink Ribbon Training event was dedicated to Mildred, and watch for a special article in the upcoming issue of Collective Voice. Click here if you would like to make a donation to WBCC in Mildred’s memory.
Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act
On October 8, 2008, President Bush signed the Breast Cancer and the Environmental Research Act in to law! The Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act (BCERA) creates a national strategy to conduct research into the possible links between breast cancer and the environment. WBCC successfully worked to engage the support of our Wisconsin delegation members for this bill. In a House Energy and Commerce Health subcommittee held a hearing on the bill during which Wisconsin Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin made a statement of support. We thank the Congresswoman for her support and encourage WBCC members in all districts to thank your representatives for supporting this important piece of legislation.
Senators Reid (D-NV), Hatch (R-UT), Clinton (D-NY), and Murkowski (R-AK) introduced S.579, the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act. Representatives Lowey (D-NY), Myrick (R-NC), and Capps (D-CA) introduced the companion bill, H.R.1157. A bipartisan majority of 70 Senators and 287 Representatives cosponsored the bill. After months of negotiations between the National Breast Cancer Coalition (WBCC is an organizational member of the NBCC Board of Directors), bill sponsors, Committee Chairs, the National Institutes of Health and Senators with concerns about the legislation, a bipartisan version of S.579 was agreed to and passed by the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee in February 2008. Majority Leader Reid then offered the Senate HELP-passed bill twice on the Senate floor, the second time offering a time agreement to appease those with objections. Both times, consideration of the bill was objected to by one Senator who was able to keep the bill from proceeding to a vote.
In May 2008, the House Health Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee (E&C) held a hearing on the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act. Committee members made statements in support of the Senate HELP-passed version of the bill, with just one Member opposing both the HELP-passed version and the bill as introduced. NIH testified that it was “very satisfied” with the changes made by the HELP Committee. Despite the overwhelming bipartisan support for the HELP-passed version of the bill, and despite NIH satisfaction with it, the House E&C Committee marked up a substitute bill that no longer met the goals or intent of either the original bill, or the HELP-passed version. Following House passage of the E&C bill, the full Senate passed this version as well. The President signed it into law on October 8, 2008.
The bill that was enacted into law did not include any of the elements of the bill NBCC developed and had been working for years to pass, and that two-thirds of Congress supported. We hear a lot of talk about “preventing” breast cancer, but until we definitively know what causes it, we will not be able to move toward preventing it. BCERA is a small step in that direction, while it may be a tool we can use toward reform, it ultimately misses an opportunity to create an innovative model at NIH that could potentially lead to the answers we so desperately need. WBCC will continue to work toward ways in which we may ultimately find what causes breast cancer so that we may one day end this disease.
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