FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EAGLE COUNTY THIRD-GRADER RAISES FUNDS FOR BREAST CANCER AWARENESS, A CHILD’S DAY TO PLAY

14th ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF LIFE LUNCHEON SET FOR JULY 18

BEAVER CREEK, Colo. – July 7, 2008 – Eight-year-old Lily DeMuth saw tremendous potential in an oversized bubble gum machine that had been abandoned in her mom’s office.

With a classmate whose mother was being treated for breast cancer, DeMuth wanted to use that machine to raise money for breast cancer awareness. The problem was, she wasn’t making too much money with the machine, stocked with pink lemonade bubble gum, housed in her bedroom.

After DeMuth contacted the Vail Breast Cancer Awareness Group, a non-profit organization that raises money for women in Eagle County who are battling breast cancer, the ladies established the Pink Lemonade Bubble Gum Day to Play program. The funds raised by DeMuth’s bubble gum machine and matched by the Vail Breast Cancer Awareness Group will be given to children each year whose moms are undergoing treatment for the disease.

The Vail Breast Cancer Awareness Group’s primary fundraiser is the Celebration of Life Luncheon held every July. The VBCAG has raised nearly $500,000 since its inception in 1993. One of the group’s programs is A Day to Play where women currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer receive funds for $500 to relieve the stress of cancer treatment.

“Because of Lily’s desire and vision, we have created A Day to Play program for kids who also need a little help with stress reduction and treating the emotional effects caused by this terrible disease,” said Williams.

The bubble gum machine rotates from eat! drink! and dish restaurant in Edwards, to Roxy clothing stores in Vail Village and Beaver Creek. A bubble gum costs just 25 cents.

The first recipients of the Pink Lemonade Bubble Gum Day to Play will be announced on Friday, July 18 at the 14th Annual Celebration of Life Luncheon at the Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch. Dr. Susan M. Love, a pioneer of breast cancer advocacy, will serve as the guest speaker. The day’s events will begin with a silent auction at 11 a.m., followed by the luncheon and Love’s presentation. The cost is $100 per person. For ticket sales, call 970-479-8595.

On Thursday, July 17, Dr. Love will sign her book – which has recently been reprinted –Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book, termed "the bible for women with breast cancer," by the New York Times, at eat! drink! from 5-7 p.m. Cost is $40, not including the book. Muse wines will be poured and fine cheeses served. For ticket sales, call 970-926-1393.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACT:
Kristin Kenney Williams    (970) 479-1182

14th ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF LIFE LUNCHEON SET FOR JULY 18

• Preeminent breast cancer doctor, Susan M. Love, to serve as keynote speaker
• For the second year, custom-painted pink helmet worn by Vail firefighter and former “Bachelorette” star Ryan Sutter and Vail Capt. James “Cooter” Overcash to be awarded to highest bidder at luncheon

  Dr Love	Overcash and Sutter

BEAVER CREEK, Colo. – June 11, 2008 – The Vail Breast Cancer Awareness Group (VBCAG) has invited Dr. Susan M. Love, a pioneer of breast cancer advocacy, to serve as the guest speaker for this year’s 13th annual Celebration of Life Luncheon.

The Beaver Creek Resort Company and Dr. Michelle V. McNeill are generously serving as the luncheon’s presenting sponsors, which will be held on Friday, July 18 at the Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch. The day’s events will begin with a silent auction at 11 a.m., followed by the luncheon and Love’s presentation. The cost is $100 per person.

Additional event sponsors include: The Shaw Regional Cancer Center/Vail Valley Medical Center; Ginn Resorts; the Vail Daily; the Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch; Slifer Designs; East West Resorts; East West Partners; The Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa; Vail Resorts; the Vail Board of Realtors; Vail Sports Medicine Physical Therapy; US Bank; Wells Fargo Home Mortgage; First Bank of Vail and Avon; Deborah Courtney; The Dauntless Dames; and Slifer Smith & Frampton. The event also received an anonymous $5,000 sponsorship in celebration of three women who have undergone treatment for breast cancer.

“In 14 years, this year we received more sponsor dollars than ever for the Celebration of Life luncheon,” said VBCAG board member Kristin Kenney Williams. “This is proof that our community is committed to the cause, and the fact that almost every single one of us has been touched by breast cancer at some point in our lives. We all want to make a difference and help raise awareness about the importance of early detection.”

Love is well known for her life passion: to eradicate breast cancer within our lifetime via the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation.

"Now that we can get to where breast cancer starts we have the opportunity to eradicate it,” says Love. “I am excited and impatient. The road is clear. We can go slowly or quickly, but everyday that we delay another 592 women will be diagnosed and 110 will die. The cost is too high to hesitate. This is our job not our daughters, granddaughters, nieces or nephews. We can do it and we have to do it!"

Love has always been a pioneer and entrepreneur. She is known worldwide as one of the founding mothers of the breast cancer advocacy movement and sits on the boards of the National Breast Cancer Coalition, Y-ME and the Young Survival Coalition. She started the first all-women Breast Center in Boston, then went on to develop the model for multidisciplinary breast care at the Revlon/UCLA Breast Center. After inventing the intraductal catheter at UCLA she recognized that she could develop it further in the for-profit arena and started Pro•Duct Health Inc (later acquired by Cytyc Corporation). She is currently the President and Medical Director of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, and founder and Medical Director of Windy Hill Medical, a breast cancer prevention company.

Always focused on keeping women educated about their options, Love authored Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book, termed "the bible for women with breast cancer," by the New York Times. Dr. Susan Love's Menopause and Hormone Book, first published in 1998, was one of the first to sound the alarm about the widespread use of postmenopausal hormones. The second edition was released in January 2003. A frequent spokesperson in the media she founded LLuminari, a multimedia women's health information company whose experts are termed "Oprah's doctors" in O magazine.

She is a Clinical Professor of Surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and was appointed by President Clinton to the National Cancer Advisory Board. She lectures nationally and internationally on breast cancer, menopause and women's health. She has been awarded six honorary doctorate degrees, as well as numerous honors and citations. Dr. Love has a business degree from the Executive MBA Program at UCLA's Anderson School. She is on the board of Sanarus Medical and provides consultation to PepsiCo.

Love received her medical degree from SUNY Downstate Medical Center in New York, did her surgical training at Boston's Beth Israel Hospital. She has retired from the active practice of surgery to dedicate herself to the urgent work of breast cancer prevention.  

“We are so privileged to have Dr. Love visit the Vail Valley and offer her experience and expertise to the hundreds of women and men who attend our luncheon event,” said VBCAG board president Brenda Himelfarb. “She’s not only extremely knowledgeable but she is amazing at delivering levity to a very serious and thoughtful presentation.”

Another exciting luncheon element is the pink helmet campaign. Currently Vail firefighter Ryan Sutter and Capt. James “Cooter” Overcash are donning a pink helmet to raise funds for the Vail Breast Cancer Awareness Group. The pink helmet is an authentic leather helmet, painted pink by the Town of Vail’s Melvin Valdez, master auto body technician. The helmet will be awarded to the highest bidder during a live auction at the July 18 luncheon. In addition, the winner will also be treated to lunch in Beaver Creek with Ryan and Trista Sutter who met and subsequently married on the TV show, the “Bachelorette.”

The Vail Breast Cancer Awareness Group was co-founded in 1993 by Eagle-Vail resident and breast cancer survivor Brenda Himelfarb, and by Edwards resident Patti Weinstein, owner of Roxy boutique clothing stores in Denver, Vail and Beaver Creek, whose mother-in-law lost her battle with breast cancer. The group, which in addition to board members Weinstein, Himelfarb and Williams include, Lynda Gustafson, Kathy Spangler, Pollyanna Forster and Joyce Bradley, strives to ease the financial an emotional burdens endured by those women in Eagle County who are battling breast cancer through fund raising efforts and emergency financial assistance. The VBCAG has raised nearly $500,000 since its inception.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 24, 2008

Contact:  Capt. James (Cooter) Overcash, 479-2254                          
Vail Fire Department                                      

Ryan Sutter, 479-2254
Vail Fire Department

VAIL FIREFIGHTERS WEAR PINK HELMET TO SUPPORT
VAIL BREAST CANCER AWARENESS GROUP

(Vail)—Vail Fire and Emergency Services firefighters are donning a pink helmet as part of a campaign to raise funds for the Vail Breast Cancer Awareness Group (VBCAG). The pink helmet is an authentic leather helmet that is currently featured on the organization’s Web site in an online auction. The helmet will be awarded to the highest bidder during a live auction at the VBCAG’s July 18 luncheon. Until then, Vail firefighter Ryan Sutter and Capt. Cooter Overcash will wear the helmet as part of the fire department’s Pink Helmet Campaign.

Overcash, whose mother died of cancer, says he got the idea from lacrosse players who wore pink helmets during an all-star game to raise funds for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. “I hadn’t heard of any other fire department in the nation wearing a pink helmet to raise funds for breast cancer research and awareness,” said Overcash. “We were looking for a unique fundraising tool and most importantly wanted to do something that would benefit our local group and those who struggle with breast cancer in the Vail Valley. The Pink Helmet Campaign met these needs.”

In addition to winning the pink helmet, Sutter says he and his wife Trista, whom he married after meeting on the TV show the “Bachelorette,” will take the highest bidder to lunch in Beaver Creek. “This is a unique way to raise awareness at the local level,” said Sutter. “Most people have directly or in-directly been affected by breast cancer. This is our way to support those people and support our local breast cancer awareness group.”

The helmet, donated by Beaver Creek Resort Company (also the Presenting Sponsor of the luncheon), conforms to safety standards and is certified for fighting fires. It was painted by Melvin Valdez who works in the town’s Public Works Department.

Sutter says initial reaction to the helmet seems to be curiosity and then after he explains why he’s wearing the helmet, the reaction becomes positive.  “The helmet is an ice breaker and has lead to many interesting and informative conversations,” said Sutter. It is great to be a part of something so simple and that has such a profound effect on so many people.”

The Vail Breast Cancer Awareness Group was founded in 1993 and attempts to ease the financial and emotional burdens endured by those women in Eagle County who are battling breast cancer.

“We are so appreciative of the support from Cooter and Ryan,” said VBCAG spokeswoman Kristin Kenney Williams. “Without a cure for breast cancer, raising awareness is the best thing we can do and the Pink Helmet Campaign is a terrific way to do just that.”

Visit www.vailbreastcancerawareness.org to make your bid for the helmet and lunch with Ryan and Trista Sutter. Bidding starts at $150.

The July 18 luncheon, featuring guest speaker, Dr. Susan Love - a pioneer in the field of women's health and breast cancer - will take place at The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch.

For more information on the Pink Helmet Campaign, contact Overcash or Sutter at 479-2254. For more information on the Vail Breast Cancer Awareness Group, call 479-8595.

“We are so impressed with all of the hard work that has gone into first, identifying the need for housing for patients who are being treated for cancer, and second, coming up with a design that will provide a safe and comfortable haven for those patients,” said VBCAG board president, Joyce Bradley. “We are very fortunate to have had tremendous support over the years from this very generous community and are pleased to be able to dedicate funds to such a wonderful project.”

The local grassroots organization made its financial commitment during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The VBAG will sponsor the garden room.

The group presented the first installment of its $50,000 pledge to Debbie King Ford, development chair of the Cancer Caring House, and a breast cancer survivor, on Monday.

“We are so appreciative of this very special donation and we can now say that we’re at 85 percent of our fund-raising goal,” Ford said. In 2003, a $3.5 million campaign to construct, equip and endow the self-sustaining Cancer Caring House was launched.

The VBCAG was founded in 1993 and strives to ease the financial and emotional burdens endured by those women in Eagle County who are battling breast cancer through fund raising efforts and emergency financial assistance. In 2004, the group pledged $75,000 to the Sonnenalp Breast & Diagnostic Imaging Center within the Shaw Regional Cancer Center.