Membership Application

Statistics... 98,000 men and women are living in New Jersey with breast cancer. In 2011, there were 45,900 new cases of breast cancer. There were 953 invasive and insitu breast cancers and 4 cases of male breast cancer. NJ now ranks 9th in occurrences.

The South Jersey Breast Cancer Coalition is a non-profit organization, formed in 1996 by a group of survivors concerned with the enormous medical, financial and social consequences of breast cancer whose mission is to raise breast cancer awareness through education, advocacy and action to change public policy. The SJBCC is aggressively for new legislation to help and protect those afflicted with breast cancer. Click Here to read our mission statement.

The South Jersey Breast Cancer Plan of Action:

1. Provide information and education to individuals.

2. Increase public awareness through outreach efforts and by lobbying for legislation.

3. Improve access to high quality breast cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment, care and clinical trials through legislation and regulation.

4. Increase the involvement and influence of those living with breast cancer in the legislative and regulatory process, and in all aspects of clinical trail design.

The SJBCC has also established a client assistance fund in 2005, the Carolyn J. Ochs Memorial Assistance Fund. The fund assists people with financial needs that arise from their breast cancer diagnosis. The fund assists with financial needs such as daycare for children while receiving treatment, gas cards for transportation to treatments and utility bills. The Fund does not assist with treatment or medication costs. Please call our office at 856-768-9028 if you are in need and we will provide a complete list of criteria. Since its inception, $69,000 has been awarded to grantees. Donate to the Carolyn J. Ochs Memorial Client Assistance Fund Today!.

Join us and make a difference by becoming a member of the SJBCC. The annual membership fee is $20 payable to the SBJCC. Click Here to become a member today!

Meetings

The SJBCC meets the 4th Monday of each month at 7 PM except for May and December. The meetings are held at the Virtua Voorhees Hospital located on Rte 73 South in Voorhees, in Building A in the Garden Level C room. From the entrance, follow signs for Lobby A, Neighborhood A. Proceed past the cafeteria and coffee bar, past the donor wall and through the double doors. The conference room will be straight ahead.

All members are welcome. Please join us and see how you can make a difference.

Events

September 24th - Pink Porches for Breast Cancer Walk raised $1600!

As part of Berlin Day in Berlin Boro, the South Jersey Breast Cancer Coalition sponsored our 1st Pink Porches for Breast Cancer Walk on West Broad Street on September 24th. The following is a list of our event sponsors.

Able Imaging–-Registration Porch

Church of Good Shepherd–-Reflection Porch

True Boutique & Salon–-Beautifying your Spirit Porch

Lafferty Family Chiropractic––Healing Porch

Camden County NJ Cancer Education & Prevention Program–-Breast Cancer Awareness

Future Fitness in memory of Nancy Thompson–-Healthy Lifestyle Porch

Camarano’s Corner–-Water stations along walk route

October 7th- Pink Football Game

A “Pink Out” football game was held on October 7th at Ocean City High School between Ocean City and Millville High Schools. The yard line numbers were painted pink and pink ribbons were painted in the end zone. Football players wore pink socks and cheerleaders dressed in pink. A portion of the gate, concession stand and the cheerleaders’ lollipops proceeds benefited the South Jersey Breast Cancer Coalition’s Carolyn J. Ochs Memorial Client Assistance Fund. This fund directly provides needed financial assistance to patients and or survivors arising from their diagnosis and treatment.

November 2011, 1st Concensus Meeting for Advanced Breast Cancer - Lisbon Portugal

European School of Oncology - Metastatic Breast Cancer (ESO-MBC) Task Force Recommendations: The first session was held in March 2006 in Nice, France. At that meeting the task force decided that MBC guidelines cannot be rigid. They would be built on principles and not on specific treatment regimens and need to be in line with the latest research findings.

The 2nd session was in Berlin, Germany in April, 2008. The topics discussed: were could MBC be cured; Management for Central Nervous System Metastasis and Treating MBC.

The 3rd session was held in Barcelona, Spain in March 2010. The main topics included: how should MBC be followed, early MBC diagnosis issues; and questions on chemo and endocrine therapies for MBC. The next step will be the concensus meeting in November, 2011. The goal of the meeting will be to bridge the gap. The panel will develop concensus recommendations for the management of MBC and continuing the work developed so far by the task force. South Jersey Breast Cancer member, Loretta Mikulski, was invited to attend.

Loretta Mikulski attended the November 2011 Consensus Meeting in Lisbon, Portugal. The consensus panelists consisted of The goals were:

To assist doctors in appropriate treatment options for advanced breast cancer
To improve the quality of life for patients
To influence national policies
To improve delivery of systems

The consensus panelists,each an expert in their respective fields consisted of physicians,researchers,biochemists, oncologists and advocates. There were representatives

From United States (11),Italy (4),Portugal (1),United Kingdom (1),China (2),France (1),Denmark (2), Australia (1) and Poland (1). At the end of the conference the consensus panel voted on clinical practice guidelines.

Bright Lights Social Hour and Pink Cocktail Hour- SJBCC would like to thank the South Jersey Young Professional Association for their commitment in raising funds for the CJO Memorial Client Assistance Fund by holding two separate events. A special thank you to Caroline Miller, Margo Wrigley and Angela Barnshaw.

Just 4 A Cure Bake Sale- SJBCC would like to thank Just 4 Kids Consignment Shop and Natalia Wilson-Reyes,Naysa Reyes for their spearheading our first Bake Sale. It was a whopping success .Thanks to all who baked, bought or sold cookies,cakes,muffins,etc. A special thanks to Elyse Suster for her management and Mary Mazakas, Julia Judah for their continued support of SJBCC.

NBCC Launches "Breast Cancer Deadline 2020"

Washington DC - On September 20, 2010, the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) announced a new initiative to end breast cancer in ten years. "Breast Cancer Deadline 2020" calls for an unprecedented "no more business as usual" approach to ending breast cancer. Acknowledging 20 years of awareness and billions of public and private investments in research have made little progress in preventing or curing the disease. NBCC calls on all the stakeholders (scientists, researchers, policymakers and advocates) to harness and coordinate the resources we have and focus them on an unprecedented goal to end breast cancer for all women by January 1, 2020. According to NBCC, more awareness and more of the status quo are not enough. NBCC is already organizing catalyst meetings geared to stimulate innovation and creativity in research and move beyond incremental changes. You can receive more information about this initiative by visiting www.BreastCancerDeadline2020.org.

Unfortunately, this initiative emphasis on developing a vaccine to prevent breast cancer from developing into metastatic disease does not address the community of breast cancer patients who are already living with metastatic disease or patients diagnosed at onset with metastatic disease.

SJBCC has been instrumental in getting the following bills passed in Congress...

Affordable Care Act or Healthcare Reform 2009/2010 - Signed into law by President Obama guaranteed access to quality health care for all regardless of ability to pay. This legislation affects the breast cancer community by preventing discrimination based on your health status, preventing insurers from denying coverage for someone with a pre-existing condition (effective 2014). Until that time, high risk pools were established for people that have been denied coverage. This eliminates the policy of annual limits on healthcare and lifetime limits on healthcare policies and prohibits insurers from dropping coverage when people get sick. It also provides coverage of preventative healthcare services.

Appropriations Annual Bill for FY 10/11 The House and Senate Appropriations conferees approved $150 million in funding for the Department Of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program.

Breast Cancer and the Environment- Passed 2008. This will study the possible link between breast cancer and the environment.

In 2007, President Bush signed the Reauthorization Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening which will provide for the Medicaid program to continue screening for low income or uninsured persons to be screened for those cancers.

Medicare Demonstration Program - Passed 2004. Oral anti cancer drugs will be covered in the program and Department of Defense (DoD) Breast Cancer research program allocated $150 million for breast cancer research.

Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act - Passed June, 2001. Allows low income, uninsured and underinsured women Medicaid/Medicare coverage for treatment they need, once diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer.

Medicare Clinical Trial coverage Act - Passed 2000. Establishes a guarantee that patients who are Medicare beneficiaries are covered for routine care costs when they enroll in clinical trials.

Lobbying efforts endorsed by SJBCC

Continuous Support for the Federal Medicaid/Medicare Program for Breast Cancer Screening & Treatment - In NJ the program is called NJ CEED. SJBCC strongly opposes breast cancer being "lumped" together in a health bill with other chronic illnesses.

Genetic Nondiscrimination Act - This would inhibit health insurers and employers from discriminating or denying coverage based on genetic information. We only endorse a bill that would include enforceable measures.

Fair Access to Clinical Trials - this would require clinical trails for serious and life threatening illnesses not only to be registered but to disseminate the outcome of the trial (good, bad or null)

Loretta Milulski Meets with Second Lady, Dr. Jill Biden

On Wednesday, May 26th, 2010, Loretta Mikulski and grassroots field leadership for NBCC from across the country were hosted by Dr. Jill Biden at the Vice President's Residence to discuss breast cancer research and legislative priorities. "I am truly honored to host this group of advocates", Dr. Biden told the group, "and I know the work you do is critical to paving the way for a breast cancer free world". Dr. Biden's personal involvement began in 1993 when four close friends were diagnosed.

Affordable Care Act or Healthcare Reform 2009/2010 - Signed into law by President Obama guaranteed access to quality health care for all regardless of ability to pay. This lesgislation affects the breast cancer community by preventing discrimination based on your health status, preventing insurers from denying coverage for someone with a pre-existing condition (effective 2014). Until that time, high risk pools established for people that have been denied coverage. Eliminating the policy of annual limits on healthcare and lifetime limits on healthcare policies. Prohibits insurers from dropping coverage when people get sick. Coverage of preventative healthcare services.

Appropriations Annual Bill for FY 10/11 A The House and Senate Appropriations conferees approved $150 million in funding for the Department Of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program.

Breast Cancer and the Enviroment- Passed 2008 This will study the possible link between breast cancer and the environment.

In 2007, President Bush signed the Reauthorization Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening which will provide for the Medicaid program to continue screening for low income or uninsured persons to be screened for those cancers.

Medicare Demonstration Program - Passed 2004 Oral anti cancer drugs will be covered in the program and Department of Defense (DoD) Breast Cancer research program allocated $150 million for breast cancer research.

Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act - Passed June, 2001 Allows low income, uninsured and underinsured women Medicaid/Medicare coverage for treatment they need, once diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer.

Medicare Clinical Trial coverage Act - Passed 2000 Establishes a guarantee that patients who are Medicare beneficiaries are covered for routine care costs when they enroll in clinical trials.

Lobbying efforts endorsed by SJBCC

Continuous Support for the Federal Medicaid/Medicare Program for Breast Cancer Screening & Treatment - In NJ the program is called NJ CEED. SJBCC strongly opposes breast cancer being "lumped" together in a health bill with other chronic illnesses.

Genetic Nondiscrimination Act - This would inhibit health insurers and employers from discriminating or denying coverage based on genetic information. We only endorse a bill that would include enforceable measures.

Fair Access to Clinical Trials - this would require clinical trails for serious and life threatening illnesses not only to be registered but to disseminate the outcome of the trial (good, bad or null)

The South Jersey Breast Cancer Coalition is lobbying aggressively for legislation. Our mission is clear: to raise awareness of Breast Cancer through advocacy, action and change in political policy. Join us by completing our membership application - $20.00 annual membership.

Loretta Milulski Meets with Second Lady, Dr. Jill Biden

On Wednesday, May 26th, 2010, Loretta Mikulski and grassroots field leadership for NBCC from across the country were hosted by Dr. Jill Biden at the Vice President's Residence to discuss breast cancer research and legislative priorities. "I am truly honored to host this group of advocates", Dr. Biden told the group, "and I know the work you do is critical to paving the way for a breast cancer free world". Dr. Biden's personal involvement began in 1993 when four close friends were diagnosed.

Annual Membership

$20.00 payable to SJBCC. Pleases continue to support our programs and the work we do. - Click Here to become a member!

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