October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and although many companies are choosing to show their support with a ‘pink’ campaign, we at Juice Beauty practice Breast Cancer prevention every day of the year through our company’s eco values. We are proud to say that we are year-long supports of the Breast Cancer Fund, a non-profit organization that works to connect the dots between breast cancer and exposures to chemicals and radiation in our everyday environments.
To celebrate women and further the cause of breast cancer prevention, for every STEM CELLULAR Overnight Cream sold in October, we will donate $10 to the Breast Cancer Fund.
We recently had a chat on our Facebook page with the Breast Cancer Fund, and wanted to share some of the great answers they had to some of our questions. Questions were from our very own Juice Beauty Founder, Karen Behnke, and answers were provided by Jeanne Rizzo, R.N., President and CEO of Breast Cancer Fund.
Q: What is the meaning behind the #RethinkThePink campaign?
A: Today, 1 in 8 women in will be diagnosed with the disease in her lifetime. That’s a mother, a friend, a neighbor, a teacher. While there is great public awareness of breast cancer—with pink ribbons emblazoning everything from makeup bottles to soup cans—the emphasis has generally been on screening, treatment and searches for a cure. We applaud those efforts but the Breast Cancer Fund is working to #RethinkThePink and shift public focus to primary prevention. We are working for a world in which we live without fear of losing our breasts or our lives as a result of what we’ve eaten, touched or breathed. That’s why we are single-focused in our work to stop breast cancer before it starts by protecting our bodies and environment from toxic chemicals and radiation linked to the disease. That is what #RethinkThePink is about. Join us.
Q: How can Juice Beauty fans get involved with #RethinkThePink?
A: 1. Join us at future events, like the Peak Hike for Prevention on Mt. Tam. 2. Take action: Tell your senators to prioritize the health of the American public over corporate profits and reform the Toxic Substances Control Act. 3. Incorporate our top tips into your life.
Q: Jeanne, how did you become involved with the Breast Cancer Fund?
A: I was working as a film producer and volunteered to produce the premiere of “Rachel’s Daughters: Searching for the Environmental Causes of Breast Cancer”, which premiered at San Francisco’s Castro Theatre in September 1997. The premiere sold out, and afterwards Andrea Martin, founder and executive director of the Breast Cancer Fund and breast cancer survivor, reached out to me for help to organize a 1998 mountain climb of Alaska’s Denali, and a film about the event. I jumped at the opportunity. My role grew to include fundraising and being executive producer. “Climb Against the Odds” won multiple film festival awards, earned international acclaim, and aired on PBS stations across the country, but most importantly, the documentary raised awareness of breast cancer and the Breast Cancer Fund’s call to action.
Up until 1998, six years after the Breast Cancer Fund was founded, the nonprofit was focused primarily on raising funds and giving grants to researchers who were trying to develop non-toxic treatments and alternatives to mammography, and to support access-to-care issues. While the work was important, Andrea felt that something was missing. She was really among the first people to raise the question of environmental causation – factors in causing breast cancer that were not the known and accepted risk factors.
When Andrea was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in May 2001, she stepped down as executive director. Given my involvement, I offered to help on a temporary basis. When the board asked for an extension, I figured I could stay a year longer. And I didn’t leave. At the end of the year, I thought: This is my calling.
I ultimately led us to shifting our mission to focus on reducing exposure to toxic chemicals and radiation.
Q: Where should people start when it comes to reducing exposure to toxic chemicals?
A: It can be totally overwhelming. We suggest starting with one thing … whichever one sounds most intriguing or doable. If you love food, you can have a great time getting creative with new organic foods. If you love cosmetics or lotions, make it a project to explore safer options. Advocate for ways to make your children’s school or your workplace safer. It will start to become second nature to think about exposures in other areas, too, because the knowledge you get from one area of your life will translate to others.
Q: Since we are donating $10 from each STEM CELLULAR Overnight Cream sold in October to the Breast Cancer Fund, can you tell our fans where the funds go?
A: Thank you so much, Juice Beauty We are so grateful for everything you are doing for breast cancer prevention. Tax-deductible gifts provides critical support for our work to eliminate the environmental causes of breast cancer.
It helps us:
-Advance scientific research on the links between chemicals and radiation and breast cancer.
-Educate the public, business leaders and policy makers.
-Advocate for state and federal laws that protect the public.
-Influence companies to sell safer products
For the last decade 78–to-83 percent of our donations are allocated directly to our programmatic work. As a result, our impact has been mighty.
For more information on the Breast Cancer Fund, please visit their website.
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