My friend and fellow young breast cancer survivor has received a great honor to serve as one of the 55 delegates representing breast cancer advocates worldwide at Ignite the Promise: Global Advocate Summit in Hungary.
I'm so proud of you Deb!
This press release says it all:
Deb Kirkland, of Baltimore, MD, has been selected to serve as one of 55 delegates representing breast cancer advocates worldwide at "Ignite the Promise: Global Advocate Summit" in Budapest, Hungary, Sept. 29-30, 2007.
Organized by Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world's largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists, the summit will pair the 25 U.S. breast cancer advocates with their counterparts from 30 countries. The overarching goals for holding this international summit are to elevate the dialogue on breast cancer's global impact and to share strategies used to combat breast cancer in the delegates' local communities
"Each year, more than 1 million women worldwide receive a breast cancer diagnosis," said Nancy G. Brinker, founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. "The need to provide these women-regardless of race, nationality, or socioeconomic status-an equal opportunity to beat a breast cancer diagnosis has never been greater. This summit will enable advocates to share outreach tactics that have been implemented in the U.S. and elsewhere to meet our collective goal of saving lives and ending breast cancer forever."
Deb Kirkland is an active breast cancer advocate in her community. Since her diagnosis of breast cancer in 2001 at the age of 32, she has created programming in the state of Maryland for young women with breast cancer. She is a committee member of the Komen annual educational symposium committee, as well as, a Komen grantee. She is program coordinator of the "Breast Friends" grant through LifeBridge Health that provides support, education, and advocacy to young women and their families locally. Kirkland, formerly a critical care nurse, teaches breast health education in the local colleges as well as in the inner city, communicating with young women about the importance of monthly breast self exams and, for women aged 40 and older, the imperative to get annual mammograms and clinical breast exams. By sharing her story and experiences, she hopes to impart a sense of hope and encouragement to women diagnosed with breast cancer.
"I am thrilled to be a part of this global initiative and to have the opportunity to work with other breast cancer advocates from other countries through the efforts of Komen for the Cure. I hope to be able to contribute, as well as, learn from others around the world," said Kirkland. "Together, this growth experience of sharing our local successes and challenges, we can work together to create new, innovative ideas that can be implemented in communities world-wide to help eradicate this disease."
To honor the U.S. delegates in advance of this historic meeting, Mrs. Laura Bush hosted a luncheon on June 1 at the White House extending her appreciation for their tireless efforts to increase awareness and education about breast cancer. "Eradicating breast cancer is a challenge for every country, and too many women around the world are still too embarrassed or too uninformed to seek the treatment they need in time to save their lives," said Mrs. Bush, who is also the Global Summit's Honorary Co-Chair, and a longtime Komen volunteer and breast cancer advocate.
Kirkland is one of the extraordinary advocates selected by Susan G. Komen for the Cure for their records of activism and success in the fight against breast cancer. These women and men have contributed to breast cancer detection and treatment advances through community outreach, shaping public policy, offering health education, providing survivor support, and fundraising.
