All eyes are on September as we gear up for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and OCRA’s Uniting for Hope Ovarian Cancer National Conference. So with that in mind, we’re flipping the order of the news this month. Are you ready?
In exactly one week, Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month (OCAM) kicks off! Not only is this one of our biggest fundraising moments of the year, but it is a time when we need everyone in our community to spread the word far and wide about the disease, the need for conversations, and greater investments into research. Learn how you can be an OCAM Ambassador.
You know what else is happening during OCAM? Our Facebook 60 Mile Walk/Run Challenge. Sign up here to join the fun, log those miles over the course of the month, and fundraise among your network of social media friends.
Or, you can hop on the seat of a bike! Ovarian Cycles will be held in seven cities — Virginia Beach, Atlanta, Jackson, NYC, Orlando, Tampa, and Rio Grande Valley. Register for these events here, or talk to us about starting your own fundraising event.
Don’t let anyone tell you that video games are idle pastimes. Earlier this month, live streamers united by a single mission — to find a cure for ovarian cancer — participated in our inaugural #GameOVAR event to raise funds for research and patient support programs. Meet some of these gamers who made a difference.
As mentioned earlier, next week is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and we have a bold goal of raising $300,000 for lifesaving research. The support we receive in the month of September plays a large part in determining our grants for next year. Please help us reach this goal and give today.
One way to help us reach that goal is by creating a personal Facebook fundraiser — which you can do without walking 60 miles. ;-) Click here to get started.
Finally, we didn’t want to let this moment pass without acknowledging a special OCRA Hero, Amber Jean Young, who poured her heart onto canvas in memory of her mother and created a unique art exhibition with proceeds benefitting OCRA. View her paintings and read her story.
RESEARCH
A recent study partly funded by OCRA, and published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, has shown that frequent aspirin use (defined as more than six times per week for more than six months) is associated with a reduction in ovarian cancer risk. Learn more about the study and its results.
PATIENT SUPPORT
Express Yourself, a creative arts support series, is coming back this Fall with a ‘Word Wisdom’ session on Tuesday, September 20th.We will offer two time slots so participants can choose what works best for them, and twice as many people can experience the fun. It will also be a great way for people to connect just before the Conference starts. Advance registration is required.
ADVOCACY
OCRA's Advocate Leaders are busily preparing for September by requesting Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month proclamations and resolutions from local government leaders and preparing events. OCRA has requested that the White House issue a proclamation for September as well, and we expect it to be issued at the end of August. We'll share more about these activities next month.
