Bay Area Cancer Connections

We love sharing "behind-the-scenes" moments from our staff. We're all looking forward to the rest of 2021 and wanted to share some of our hopes for the New Year with you. Here is a cozy moment with Colleen Carvalho, our Director of Programs and services, who is "... most looking forward to getting to be with friends, family, and all of you again in-person! P.S.- I will miss my lap warmer at home. " #2021

We cannot wait to see you all at this year's virtual Spring Benefit on March 17. Tickets are FREE and you can attend from the comfort of your home! We hope you'll join us as we listen to stories and laugh together with Delia Ephron. Reserve your spot today: https://bit.ly/3qWIPjU

We're thrilled to introduce (socially-distanced, of course) our newest BACC Staff Member, Valerie Bennett! Valerie is our new Philanthropy Coordinator and we asked her to take our #GratitudeChallenge so you could get to know her a little more. Please join us in welcoming her to our community! What is one thing you like to do that helps you relax?... Exercise almost always helps me relax and generally feel better. I miss going to my neighborhood yoga studio, but in the meantime, I'm getting my workout fix through online yoga and strength training. Describe one new thing you've tried. After watching way too many British gardening shows (and with a bit of time on our hands), my fiance and I were inspired to revamp our backyard last year. Gardening has become my new favorite hobby!

We get very hopeful about humanity, too, when we get notes like this from our clients. :) If you haven't had a chance to share our services with your friends yet, we have so many special presentations coming up in the next few weeks to support you from nutrition to fitness guidance. Take a look at bayareacancer.org/presentations.html

We are huge fans of anything that talks about the holistic effects our eating can have on our health, and so thrilled that Palo Alto Speaker Series is bringing Dr. Mitra Ray in to talk about the Gut Brain Connection. Click on their name above to learn more and register!

THANK YOU, to our incredible community! With your help yesterday, we were able to raise enough money for over 100 new tote bags to help welcome future clients. Thanksgiving may have ended last week but we are thankful every day, this year especially, to have supporters like you.

Thank you so much for everyone's support so far - both here on Facebook and on our website! We are less than 100 totes away from our #GivingTuesday goal - will you join us tonight? Each tote is worth $25 and goes to our new clients to welcome and support them. Every dollar counts and we are incredibly thankful for all of you that have helped already!

Today is the day! The Cyber Monday deals are done and #GivingTuesday is here. You can help give our clients many days of comfort by giving $25 for one tote bag, $125 for five totes, or any amount you can! Our goal is to raise enough money for 200 new tote bags - will you help us get there?

#GivingTuesday is this week! This day is an opportunity for our BACC Community, and all communities around the world, to use their individual power of generosity to remain connected and support each other. This year, we need your help to send 200 Comfort Totes to people newly diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer. Our totes are filled with an amazing assortment of wearable and personal care items to support, encourage, and provide loving care to our community members in n...eed. Though most of the items are handmade by caring volunteers or donated by partner companies, we purchase additional items to ensure every tote is complete. Join us anytime today through Tuesday and help us reach our goal of $5,000 to send love, hope, and kindness in a difficult time. You can start here: https://bit.ly/3o873Gg

This week we all have the opportunity to reflect on what we are thankful for, and at BACC we want to start by saying how thankful we are for you, our incredible Community. We also want to remind you that we will be closing this afternoon through Sunday, November 29, so our volunteers and staff can enjoy the holiday. We hope you can take time to pause too.

We love these ideas from our friends at Lipstick Angels about different ways to check-in and show we care this year. What's your favorite?

We're so grateful to partner with the San Francisco Police Officer Association again this year! All of the proceeds from their mask sales this month benefit BACC. Check out the schedule below to see where you can pick one up (safely and socially distanced, of course)!

Today is the day! Head to kendrascott.com and enter our code GIVEBACK9495 at checkout to give back 20% of your purchase to BACC. Anyone ready to get their holiday shopping done early this year?

Thank you so much to the Palo Alto Firefighters for thinking of BACC every year! This October, they are selling t-shirts to raise money on our behalf. Check out their link below and see if one of these could be for you!

Breast Cancer Awareness month is here! We are proud to bring awareness to this cancer all year round, but always appreciate the opportunity to partner with our community and bring education to even MORE people every October. Today we're excited to share an ONLINE sale coming up next week at Kendra Scott on Friday and Saturday, October 9 - 10 that benefits BACC and helps us keep all of our programs free. Check out the details below (you need to use this code!) and get your shopping carts ready at www.kendrascott.com

Have you been cooking a lot more this year? We think you'll love this podcast 'Cooking for Chemo'. Even if you're cooking for a family member, there's an episode on 'How to Cook for a Friend Going Through Cancer Treatments' and so many more! Take a listen and let us know what you think.

In her own words, an incredible client of ours wrote down her Ovarian Cancer Journey. It's a powerful personal story, and we are honored that she chose to share it in our blog today. "My name is Annie, and I’m 46 years old. My husband and I have been married for 19 years, and we have three wonderful children together, ages 17, 14, and 11. We live in the East Bay with a 90-pound female American Bulldog who has a 50-pound Pitbull for a brother. By all accounts, we had been liv...ing a quiet, comfortable family life up until the events of the last four years. These events absolutely changed the course of our lives; it tested my strength and my faith. In 2016, my Mom had been in and out of doctor’s appointments. She had difficulty performing regular activities, and even sleeping became an arduous task due to back pain. She thought a urinary tract infection was causing the abdominal pain and the discomfort when urinating." Read more at bayareacancer.org/blog/my-ovarian-cancer-journey

We are #hiring! Do you want to work for a company with a small team and a big heart? For over 25 years, this is what we've been known for in our community. View our open positions here:

Our friends at Lipstick Angels have some of our favorite self-care tips right now - including this one! We can't wait to see them again for a class in October - registration is open now: https://bit.ly/3mMhgbN

The Teal Run is coming up THIS Sunday, September 27 - have you registered yet? THis is an annual 5K run/walk hosted by The Teal Foundation, a 501(c)(3) all-volunteer nonprofit organization. More than 1,700 participants have attended the first five events, and over $140,000 has been raised in net proceeds for ovarian cancer research and local ovarian cancer support services. Register today at https://fundraise.thetealrun.org/.../the-teal-run.../e298961 TIME: Whenever you feel ...like it LOCATION: Your neighborhood, or any other walking path of your choice VIRTUAL REGISTRATION COST: $35 Adults; $25 Children. Prices include an eco-friendly T-shirt mailed to your door. FINAL REGISTRATION DEADLINE: September 27, 2020 See more

Are you registered yet for our Pain Management Program next week with Stanford Medicine? Doctor Grant Smith, M.D., will highlight ways to treat pain by considering the physical, psychological, and spiritual contributors to pain. This event is free and we hope to "see" you there on Zoom! Register online now at https://bit.ly/3kxaYun

Our partner UCSF Mt. Zion Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center is hosting the annual Taste for the Cure: A Taste of Science - and going virtual this year! The event will explore food, science and breast health. Everyone is welcome. Please visit https://bit.ly/2ZrzDJ3 for more details and to register. Questions can be directed to [email protected]

Did you know we ALL have the BRCA gene? It's Ovarian Cancer Awareness month and our friends at Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance OCRA are having #FactFridays to help us all learn more about it. Read on below to learn more and share with your friends!