About 820 cases of testicular cancer are diagnosed annually in Canada and it is the number one killer for men between the ages of 20 and 30. This past weekend a fundraiser was held called Nuts4ribs in Bedford, Nova Scotia.

The fundraiser featured cook offs, music and a nationally acclaimed one-man play by Daniel Schneiderman, titled Left Nut, a humorous look at a man with testicular cancer.

Michael Kydd, diagnosed with testicular cancer three years ago, is the man behind the event. Kydd said "What I'm trying to do is make sure men understand that by ignoring the warning signs, you're not doing yourself any good".

Micheal Kydd also added "Although we're not going to cure the disease, what we are going to do is help men understand the disease and make sure they know and communicate that with their family, and then live happily ever after".

On Sunday September 16, 2007, The Colosseum Gym will be hosting the 1st Annual Lift for the Cure: Powerlifting and Bench Press Competition. All proceeds to help benefit the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults. This will be an OPEN meet limited to 60 lifters. All weight classes will be honored, including a separate Law Enforcement Division (Top Cop Award). This will be a unsanctioned RAW meet (belts and wraps only). USAPL rules apply.

Guest Judge and exhibition lift by 7-time USPF National Champion and 6-time IPF World Champion, "Captain Kirk" Karwoski.

The $25 application fee/donation includes a unique event t-shirt, food and refreshments and the opportunity to help a great cause. Event categories include Squat/Bench/Deadlift OR Bench only. Weigh in time is 8 am - 9am. Lifting will start at 10 am. Limited to 60 lifters.

Spectators are welcome! The $5 spectator donation to The Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults includes food and refreshments. Children under 6 are free. Shirt sales and vendors will be on the scene.

The event will be held at The Colosseum Gym located at 9195F Red Branch Road, Columbia, Maryland.

More on the Ulman Fund and how it came about.

This morning I attended the kickoff breakfast for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk being held October, 28th in Ocean City, New Jersey.

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer is a noncompetitive walk to help fight breast cancer and provide hope to people facing the disease. Your participation will support the American Cancer Society's lifesaving research, prevention, early detection, and support programs for thousands of patients and their families.

I learned today that Making Strides is more than just a walk -- it is the amazing progress that is being made to defeat breast cancer. This is truly an inspiring event!

Check out Making Strides for Breast Cancer walks in your area -- here.

Lee National Denim Day is one of the largest single-day fundraisers for breast cancer. In October, Lee Jeans encourages millions of people nationwide to slip into their favorite jeans and make a $5 donation to support the fight against breast cancer.

Through the Women's Cancer Programs of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, Lee National Denim Day will support groundbreaking early detection and treatment research at leading cancer centers and provide community breast cancer education services nationwide.

In most areas, you can find a walk or some sort of other fundraiser for breast cancer. But for women in Terra Haute, IN, their Carnation-selling fundraiser kicks off by painting their town pink -- literally. Well, ok, it's only one ribbon, but one ribbon signifies so much ... survival. Proceeds from the fundraiser, organized by the local Breast Cancer Survivors group, funds the chance for six women to attend a national conference on the disease in Washington, DC. Proceeds also go towards funding their initiatives -- to educate and provide support.

I'm always inspired by groups that pull together in the fight against cancer. What kind of fundraisers have you taken part in?

This past mothers day weekend I attended the Shirley Mae Run & Gilda's Club Walk held in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was a beautiful Saturday to take a stroll on the boardwalk. My dad flew in from Arizona for the event and my mom drove from Philadelphia. I'm very lucky that my parents are so supportive.

The Shirley Mae Breast Cancer Assistance Fund was started by Roy Goldberg to honor his mother, Shirley Mae, who survived breast cancer. The fund assists breast cancer patients in the south-eastern area of New Jersey with the cost of medicine, wigs, prostheses, and anything else needed to relieve financial stress so they can focus on healing and becoming survivors too.

Peter Augustini's wife Jodi is fighting Stage IV breast cancer. They have three children, Charles, 10, Caroline, 7 and Max, 2.

Augustini is organizing a fundraiser to benefit the research Dana Farber Cancer Institute is using to help his wife fight breast cancer. He wanted to help Jodi and others fighting her type of aggressive breast cancer, referred to as Her-2 positive breast cancer.

Augustini decided to take on a holiday, Valentines day, that some people seem to think is a commercially contrived holiday. Augustini says "This is the chance to do something meaningful".

You can purchase a three inch wooden heart for your Valentine via the Share your Heart Fundraiser. The proceeds will benefit a fund specifically set up to fund research into a cure for Her-2 neu form of breast cancer. The research involves work on a drug called herceptin, which is attracted to specific proteins found only in cancer cells in the body.

The hearts are $5 each. You can also purchase a package of 10 for $20 and a package of 25 for $40. The hearts come unpainted and ready to decorate.

Share Your Heart Valentines are available for order vial the Dale, Wheelock and Memorial School Web sites, www.medfield.net or by e-mail to paugustini@cera.com.

How many of us value the worth of a penny?

Twenty years ago, Peter and Bette Pickstock, from a village in Sturdivant near Cheltenham, England, thought pennies might one day add up to make a difference and thus began the collection of pennies.

Two decades later, and 32 million pennies total (nearly $700,000 dollars), the couple recently donated the money to the Cobalt Appeal Fund in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, a cancer care center.

The Queen of England was impressed, as Peter and Bette Pickstock were invited to Buckingham Palace to meet Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Although the couple could not have known this twenty years ago when they decided to do something good for others in the simple act of collecting pennies, two years ago Mrs. Pickstock was diagnosed with breast cancer and learned firsthand how much a cancer care center can help cancer patients. They said they plan to continue collecting pennies.

Looking for a cartoonishly risqué way to keep track of the days in 2007? Fifteen webcomic artists have created the Tastefully Done: 2007 Nude Webcomic Calendar featuring nude versions of webcomic characters, with all proceeds going to cancer research.

The calendar showcases the work of Ivan Pope, Ali Graham, Gordon McAlpin, Charles Woolbright, Chris Jones, Bryan Chojnowski, Pontus Madsen & Christian Fundin, Chris Simmons, Philip Spence, Rich Dachtera, Robert Koch, Ramón Pérez, Rob Coughler, Ryan Estrada, and of course, webcomic characters appearing in various scenarios of nudity.

From geriatric strip poker to nude bus rides, the artists realize that the calendar might not be for everyone, but it was only a matter of time before webcomic cartoon characters joined the ranks of the nude in benefiting cancer research. It's not naked librarians, hunky firefighters, naked rugby players, naked day traders, nude village women (who started the nude calendar for cancer charity phenomenon) or topless models (who decided in being different they would remain fully-clothed), but it is a one-of-a-kind calendar in the webcomic category.

You can take a peek and purchase the Tastefully Done: 2007 Nude Webcomic Calendar through Lulu's here.

During the first week of October, bloggers submit photos of breasts as part of a blogging breast cancer fundraiser to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Launched five years ago by Robyn Pollman, a stay-at-home mother of two toddlers who blogs Shutterbug, and is webmistress of Wholly Matrimony!, the Boobie-Thon has raised over $35,000 dollars in total. This year, the 152 bloggers participating and donors of the Boobie-Thon raised over $9,000 dollars.

According to the Boobie-Thon, "Boobies. Although they come in all shapes and sizes (large, small, saggy and perky), they have one thing in common: The ability to develop cancer."

Over 1500 people have contributed photos of breasts to the blog, and the website is designed to be workplace safe -- in other words, the main page of the website does not display photos of breasts. You can view photos by visiting one of the galleries of breasts.

A personal note from Boobie-Thon founder Pollman regarding the history and controversy of this event can be read here -- because apparently, there are some who have objected to the Boobie-Thon and resorted to name-calling and other criticisms.

Hate the pink? In an effort to raise money for breast cancer organizations with diverse philosophies but common goals in stopping breast cancer, Pollman posted, "If you don't believe in pink. If you don't believe in what we're doing here. Well then for goodness sake, believe in something and donate to Breast Cancer Action."

To be inspired in how the blogging community can create a grassroots fundraiser based on one blogger's post of an idea, visit Boobie-Thon.

Five Rivers Winery is partnering with distributors in more than a dozen states to raise funds to support the National Breast Cancer Foundation. For every bottle of wine sold during the month of October, one dollar will be donated to the foundation. Five Rivers produces Central Coast wines from California. The labels are adorned with whimsical goddess images.

The company feels that the imagery works well with the fundraising drive, which will be promoted as an effort to "Save a Goddess". Five Rivers says that any winery can support a good cause and provide attractive labels but they feel they also deserve attention for the quality of their wines. Priced around ten dollars, the wines of Five Rivers provide a lot of bang for their buck.

There is a lot of information that says alcohol can increase our risk of cancer, so providing a website that produces wine might seem a bit odd for the cancer blog. I am a breast cancer survivor and I happen to love wine. After my diagnoses I thought about giving it up..well, for a second or two maybe! Then I came to my senses. I don't know what caused my breast cancer at such a young age but I still want to enjoy life and enjoy wine.

Since 1988, Wendy Chioji has been a reporter and anchorwoman for WESH 2 News in Orlando, Florida. She has covered news ranging from the pope's visit to Cuba in 1998 to the Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2002. She continuously covered last year's hurricanes, and she has an Emmy award under her belt for a special news report on heroin use.

Wendy is a top notch athlete. She has run five marathons and competed in several triathlons and half-ironman races. She has ridden in parts of several stages of the Tour de France, and traveled across the country with Lance Armstrong in 2003 -- covering 550 miles -- with the Tour of Hope event to raise awareness for cancer research. Wendy has also made a tour with stage II breast cancer. Since 2001, she has been surviving this disease.

Molly MacDonald knows it will create attention and that is what she wants in order to raise funds for a non-profit to help women struggling with financial issues while they undergo breast cancer treatment.

Last year, MacDonald was diagnosed with breast cancer and what she remembers is the financial struggles of meeting monthly living expenses and medical expenses. She was between jobs, and found herself barely making if financially and needing to borrow money.

MacDonald would like to help other women who find themselves in the same bind of not only worrying about surviving the chemotherapy and radiation treatments for breast cancer but also how to keep the pantry stocked and sometimes, how to keep from becoming homeless. On Monday, MacDonald is launching an eBay auction of a bust of her pre-surgery breasts.

According to the feature story of events planner and graphics consultant MacDonald, "The great thing about eBay is if it's weird, it gets attention." The bust up for auction was cast by artist Nance Aitchison in dental stone and painted gold and yellow the night before MacDonald's breast cancer surgery last year.

On behalf of women facing financial struggles during breast cancer treatments she hopes to help with her fundraising efforts, she said she is ready for her 15 minutes of eBay fame. MacDonald is calling her non-profit the Pink Fund.

No, Venus de Milo is not up for auction.

Julia Fikse, founder of Ta-tas trademark brand clothing, who wants to do some good in the world, has built a company based on the philosophy that laughter heals. As Fikse states on the Ta-tas company website, "Our mission is to celebrate the varied beauty of women through playful expressive clothing and accessories. We believe all people are uniquely designed by God and should feel comfortable, valuable and beautiful as they are."

Some of the slogans screen printed on tees include: caught you looking at my ta-tas; ta-tas unite; and save the ta-tas. Fikse is living her goal of doing some good in the world as she donates five percent of every sale to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation in hopes of finding a breast cancer cure in our lifetime.

She is fun and funny, as you will learn as you browse through the Ta-tas website or read the Save the ta-tas thoughts on breast cancer blog. There are more than a few celebrities who think her line of clothing is fun and help promote the cause. A quick read-through finds Fran Drescher wearing caught you looking at my ta-tas tee to an Emmy SWAG party and making the front page of the LA Times Calendar because of the tee. Kate Beckinsale, Abigail Spencer, Haylie Duff, Daisy Fuentes and Jessica Alba have answered "where do you take your ta-tas" in photos published by Fikse.

Fikse asks for photo submissions of people wearing a ta-tas tee and is also open to design suggestions for future tees. Like I said, she is fun. Visit the website, read the blog, save the ta-tas.

With over 30 celebrities including actor Cheech Marin, NFL MVP John Elway, World Series of Poker Champion Mel Judah, Hall of Fame Philly Mike Schmidt, Cock Blocker Clothing creator Mark James is raising money for the Philadelphia Breast Cancer 3Day Breast Cancer Foundation fundraiser by holding an eBay auction of celebrity-autographed Cock Blocker Clothing items. The auction is live now and will run through October 1, 2006 8PM (PST).

Supporting breast cancer research is personal for James of Cock Blocker Clothing, whose mother survives her own diagnosis of breast cancer. He wants to help other women who are going through the same struggles as his mother in contributing to something that can make a positive difference.

In addition to the celebrity-autographed Cock Blocker Clothing online eBay auction, James will be participating in Philadelphia's Breast Cancer 3Day fundraiser, where participants will walk 60 miles in three days, with each participant raising at least $10,000 dollars for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

To help with the cause, you can bid on celebrity-autographed Cock Blocker Clothing during the eBay auction, or donate directly to the 3Day event. The Philadelphia Breast Cancer 3Day Walk will take place on October 4 through the 6th.

"Please remember, all of us have the power to change lives and contribute to society," states James. Visit to learn more about the Cock Blocker Clothing fight against breast cancer.