| Founder’s
Note |
| It
is hard for me to believe that
it is almost Spring and that
will mark one year that the
Myself: Together Again
booklets have been available
as a resource to women and
caregivers who are facing
difficult choices in their
journey with breast cancer. In
the past year we have had so
many wonderful experiences
most of which are summed up
below, but I think what amazes
me the most is that the M:TA
project is still going strong
when it feels like just
yesterday it was only an idea.
I feel
so grateful to the hospitals,
physician offices, nurses,
non-profits, agencies, and
everyone who has helped M:TA
get off the ground and now to
have established ourselves as
a charitable organization. I
also feel so fortunate to have
such an incredible amount of
support out there- family,
friends, colleagues, co
workers, and even people I
have never met have donated
time, energy and monetary
donations in order to help us
get our message and resources
out in the world and available
to all who are in need of it.
Thank you to all of you- you
have given life to this
project.
Now that
it is 2007 and we are no
longer a Komen grantee, it is
even more necessary that we
get our name out there and
continue to ask for support to
keep the foundation going. We
are still hoping to partner
with a larger agency/company
that can help us get the
booklet into more patients’
hands via physicians’
offices and hospitals as well
as cancer centers and cancer
related non-profits. If you
know of any leads in that area
please email me directly at info@myselftogetheragain.org.
Fortunately, we have some
interest that we are currently
following up on in order to
broaden our mission and scope,
but we are always interested
in hearing from you and
getting ideas of grants that
are available and/ businesses
that are looking to partner.
We have
kicked off 2007 by making the
booklets available to purchase
on line at our website as well
as through Amazon. Also, I
exhibited the project for the
2nd year at the 7th Annual
Conference for Young Women
Affected by Breast Cancer in
Arlington, VA. It was a great
conference and like last year
I met some extraordinary
women. There are more
conferences in the Spring that
we will be attending and we
hope you will stay tuned for
other M:TA projects in the
works.
We are
looking forward to another
great year.
~Debbie
Horwitz, M: TA Project Creator
and Breast Cancer Survivor |
| M:TA
2006 Recap |
|
| Because
Debbie's baby was born January
3, she did not create the
final newsletter for
2006. However, it is
extremely important to the
project that everyone who has
contributed in any way see
just how far the whole project
has come because of your
support. If you got to
attend the fundraiser at Scout
and Molly's this year, you got
to see this in a beautiful
storyboard format. Here are
just the
highlights:
|
|
January 2006 | M:TA Team
Awarded a Komen grant; combined
photographs and text into a
printed booklet; assembled a team of people
which included Missy McLamb
(Photographer), Rebecca Rosal
(Graphic Designer), Beth
McNichol (Writer), Beth
Reynolds (Web Developer),
Gardner Reynolds (Media), Hugh
Avera (Spanish Translator) and
Dr. Don Oschwald (Plastic
Surgeon) who served as our
consultant.
February 2006 | Exhibit
Exhibited M:TA at
the 6th Annual Conference for
Young Women Affected by Breast
Cancer in Denver, Colorado. Valentine’s Day
fundraiser at Scout &
Molly’s enabled M:TA to raise enough
money to cover the costs of
the conference. Komen allowed
us to share the project with
women outside our grant area.
March 2006 | Face to Face
Began contacting physicians’ offices and
hospitals in preparation for
the booklet to come out in
April. Booklet finally went
into production.
April 2006 | Going Live
Booklets arrived looking
fantastic. Interviewed by The News and
Observer (the local paper in
Raleigh) which ran the article
a day before the booklets
arrived at the hospitals. Received many requests
to speak at hospitals, support
groups and physician
meetings—project took off.
May 2006 | Kick Off
Official kick-off at
Cornucopia House Cancer
Support Center in Chapel Hill.
Ivanhoe Productions TV production company
shot the event; aired around the country
and raised awareness about the
importance of having a visual
guide for women undergoing
breast reconstruction
following a double mastectomy. M:TA
held another small fundraiser.
June 2006 | Progress
Website live enabling M:TA to
inform
women via the internet along
with
Debbie’s many speaking
engagements. Race for the Cure
was a hit and there was a huge
turn out at the race. M:TA
allowed to exhibit
there. The
Komen NC Triangle Affiliate
and M:TA met their goals
thanks to the many donors both
to Komen and to M:TA. M:TA
proceeded with making a Spanish
version of the booklet.
|
July 2006 | Newsletter
First e-
newsletter to 200 opt-in
emails ( 700 opt-ins by year's
end). About 600
booklets were now in the hands of
physicians and women; M:TA
ordered more.
August 2006 | Winston Salem
Spoke at oncology
forum in Winston Salem. Though
not in our grant area, Komen
agreed this was a good
audience to hear about M:TA.
Spanish booklet now available; began
disseminating it across our
counties.
September 2006 | WUNC
Interview
Michelle
Millhouse, a Social Work
graduate student, joined M:TA
as an intern. Huge prep month
for
October—Breast Cancer
Awareness Month. Debbie began
regularly attending a young
survivor’s support group in
Raleigh at Rex Hospital where
many women had benefited from
receiving our booklet. Interviewed by Dick Gordon
from WUNC radio, segment
aired for one-hour describing
how Debbie coped with her
cancer diagnosis and then
decided to create Myself:
Together Again.
October 2006 | The Today Show
The Today Show interviewed
Debbie and Missy about the
project for a show that aired
in November and generated
national attention; decided to
sell booklets through the website. The
project took on two tracks at
this point: the Komen grant
and the formation of M:TA as a
public charity. Debbie spoke
all over the state at
different breast cancer
awareness events and also
spoke for the first time out
of state in Virginia for a
foundation luncheon.
November 2006 | Online Orders
Responded to the flood of emails
and orders for booklets
generated by the publicity
from Today
Show segment; website updated
to take
booklet orders and donations.
December 2006 | M:TA - Public Charity
Ending of
The Komen NC Triangle
Affiliate grant; beginning of
M:TA as a public charity to be
completed in January.
|
| PARTNERSHIP
NOTE: Judith Underwood
at The Nail and Body Shoppe |
|
We
are excited to announce a
month-long partnership for
March 2007 with
Judith Underwood from The Nail
and Body Shoppe!
6512
Six Forks Rd Ste 405
Raleigh, NC 27615
9 1 9 - 6 7 6 - 4 4 4 4
Judith
is a highly-skilled
esthetician who is donating a
significant percentage of her
DERMALOGICA sales in March to
the M:TA project!
Here's
what one of Judith's clients
said:
"
Best Facial, Manicure and
Pedicure in Raleigh - ... Her
manicures and pedicures are
outstanding in terms of
quality and durability. She
does the best facial anywhere,
and I have been to many spas
nationally and in Raleigh...
Judith is an esthetician, uses
DERMALOGICA products, and
spends time talking to you
about your skin before the
facial service so that she
uses products that will
address any problems you
have."
Make
an appointment to see Judith
today...
...feel
good inside and out! |
| Other
News |
- FREE
TELECONFERENCE -
BREAST CANCER GENETICS: THE
ROLE OF GENETIC TESTS AND
FAMILY RISK ASSESSMENT
Thursday, March 29, 2007,
12:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m.
EDT. For more
information, visit http://www.lbbc.org
- IN
CASE YOU MISSED IT:
NPR is re-airing The Story
with Dick Gordon this
coming TUESDAY, March 20th
at 1 PM. NPR
previously aired the M:TA
segment Sept. 21
2006. You can hear
the interview online at http://www.myselftogetheragain.org/events.htm.
Be sure to tune in
Tuesday!
- RACE
FOR THE CURE: The
11th Annual Susan G. Komen
Race for the Cure will be
held Saturday, JUNE 9th at
Meredith College. Click
here for more information;
look for M:TA sponsorship
info in the next several
weeks!
Thank
you for you support,
Debbie |
|
