The Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization did itself a lot of damage nationally with its attempt to pull funding from Planned Parenthood. Locally, the ramifications are being felt as registration for the Race for the Cure event is down by 44 percent.
Those who haven’t signed up as in years’ past may want to make a point, but it’s one that’s hurting women – and men – who benefit from the money Komen raises to fight breast cancer.
About 75 percent of the funds raised by Komen Puget Sound stay here to provide services to underserved and low-income women in Western Washington. The remaining 25 percent goes to fund global research for the cure. None of the funds raised locally support the national Komen organization’s salaries or expenses.
In particular, the funds particularly help those who are low-income, underserved and uninsured. And, the numbers show the need. Last year, Komen Puget Sound funded 13,000 mammograms through the Washington State Department of Health. Those mammograms discovered breast cancer among 209 women.
There’s no question the race has helped local women. When treated early, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer is 98 percent, but later detection drops this to just 23 percent.
Lynda Weatherby, a mom in Sammamish, knows that all-too-well. It’s now been 11 years that her cancer has been in remission, but the she remembers that scary time.
“Getting breast cancer is hard. It’s scary, and there’s no answer to why it happens,” Weatherby said. “One year after I was diagnosed, I told myself I was fine, but still felt raw inside.”
For the past four years she’s been involved in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and this is her second year as a volunteer co-chair.
The Race for the Cure will be June 3. There’s still time for people to sign up and help what is not only a worth cause, but also one that can be a matter of life and death.
Go to www.komenpugetsound.org/komen-race-for-the-cure where you can sign up to race or walk – or help out in any of a number of capacities. Doing so could – and likely will – save a life.
– Craig Groshart, Issasquah & Sammamish Reporter
