I am thrilled to announce that I am coordinating the
2nd Annual Portland Melanoma Walk! In it's inaugural year, the event raised over $15,000 for
AIM at Melanoma. This year, the event will be kicking off at Wallace Park in NW Portland on Saturday, May 11, 2013. We've still got quite a bit more planning to do, but mark your calendars now! Here are a few different ways you can get involved:
- Register for the walk. It's free. Plus, you get a t-shirt.
- Make a donation. Can't make it? Don't live in Oregon? You can still support us! I'm hoping to raise at least $1,000 on my personal fundraising page. Every little bit helps. If you're a small business owner, you can also contact me for sponsorship and in-kind donation opportunities. Tax deductions, warm fuzzy feelings, etc. :)
- Create your own fundraising page. There will be amazing prizes for participants who help us raise money!
- Volunteer. If you live in the Portland area, I'm looking for several day-of volunteers. Contact me if you'd like more information about volunteering.
Share this widely with friends and family! Here are a few reasons why:
- Melanoma is the most deadly type of skin cancer.
- Every eight minutes, someone in the United States will be given a melanoma diagnosis and every hour someone will die from the disease.
- Melanoma is the fastest growing cancer in the United States and worldwide.
- Melanoma is the most common form of cancer in young adults 25-29 and the second most common cancer in young adults 15-29 years old.
- If caught in the early stages, melanoma is very treatable with a survival rate of nearly 100%. If untreated or allowed to spread, there is no known treatment or cure. Unfortunately, melanoma metastasis is very unpredictable and it often spreads quickly.
- The rate of new melanoma diagnoses was 36% higher in Oregon than the national average from 2002-2006 and was the 4th highest in the U.S. An estimated 1,220 state residents were diagnosed with melanoma in 2009.
