think pink for breast cancer patients


Home \| About Us \| Live Auction \| Get Involved \| Events \| Resources \| Contact Us
	About The Think Pink Foundation *The Think Pink Cause:* Imagine you have just been diagnosed with breast cancer. The world as you know it has just been turned upside down and you have to ask yourself questions like: What is going to happen to me and my family now? How will I continue to work and earn money? Am I going to die? Who will look after my family if anything happens to me? How will my partner, family and friends react to my diagnosis? Even if I get treatment, will my life ever return to the way it was before I was diagnosed? What do you do and to whom can you turn for help? A breast cancer diagnosis can bring a range of unexpected emotions. Uncertainty and fear for the future, changes in personal and family relationships or a sense of isolation are just some of the normal feelings that may be felt by a woman with breast cancer. Concern about body image and physical appearance may be important issues to some women. For others, a breast cancer diagnosis may bring financial hardship. Many women will want access to information about their diagnosis and the treatment options. The Think Pink Foundation is an independent, volunteer based charity whose mission is to raise funds to provide financial and emotional support to breast cancer patients. We fund worthy projects that help provide breast cancer patients with information and counselling and we also provide funds to patients who are in financial need. We work closely with and through Cancer Council Victoria an independent, volunteer based charity whose mission is to lead, coordinate and evaluate action to minimize the human cost of cancer for all Victorians. In the last five years Think Pink through special events like the Think Pink Ball we have raised over $750,000 for the Cancer Council Victoria and its Cancer Information and Support Service (CISS). These funds have been applied to “grass roots” applications such as training breast care nurse counsellors to assist people get through their illness. They have paid for wigs and prostheses for patients undergoing treatment, have provided grants and loan to patients and have funded educational material and resources to provide vitally needed advice for patients. This year approximately 12,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer nationally and a little over 3,000 of those will come from Victoria. *Where does the money we raise go?* In recent years the Think Pink Committee’s fundraising efforts have allowed Cancer Council Victoria (CCV) through its Cancer Information and Support Services (CISS) to help breast cancer patients, by providing: Welfare grants and no interest loans to men and women with breast cancer who are in financial need. Funding for the purchase of wigs and external prosthesis for breast cancer patients undergoing treatments who cannot afford them Updating Workshops for Breast Care Nurses. Workshops on sexuality for nurses to be able to counsel women with breast cancer. Seminars for nurses on Advanced Breast Cancer Care conducted by an internationally renowned professor. Workshops on self Esteem, sexuality and body image topics for women with breast cancer Around forty facilities throughout Victoria still do not employ a trained Breast Care Nurse. Think Pink is rectifying this situation and currently offers scholarships (though CISS) for nurses to be trained to become breast cancer support nurses for women with breast cancer. In addition to the above, the funds we have raised have assisted The Cancer Council Victoria to provide: Greater access to The Cancer Council Helpline. Training of Cancer Connect volunteers for one to one contact with newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. The printing and provision of numerous booklets and brochures covering subjects about treatment, management and coping with breast cancer. Living Well Seminars for advanced breast cancer patients. Establishment of breast cancer support groups so that women may share their experiences and benefit from professional facilitation and informal counselling within the group Scholarships to train over eighty breast care counsellor nurses in Victorian metropolitan and rural hospitals, Increased grants and no/low interest loans to breast cancer patients, Child minding for breast cancer patients while undergoing treatments Transport for breast cancer patients while undergoing treatment Recently, (2006) Think Pink donated $20,000 to BreaCan (a health service of the Victorian Government) which together with $8,000 donated by CISS funded the production of a book and DVD set entitled “Young Women Talking”, a valuable resource to provide assistance and information to young women diagnosed with breast cancer and their G.P.s In Victoria, around 3,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year and breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer death amongst women. Research into breast cancer is having an impact and death rates are in fact in decline. Cancer Council Victoria and trained Breast Care Nurses are a primary source of information for women with breast cancer and are at the forefront to improve their well being.