The Susan G. Komen Race For the Cure promotes breast cancer awareness.
What began in 1980 as a cancer awareness group created in honor of breast cancer victim Susan G. Komen has since become the largest and most progressive breast cancer charity organization in the world and the brains behind the globally recognized Race for the Cure. The Komen Race for the Cure raises funds and awareness to help eradicate breast cancer. It is the largest series of 5-km runs and foot walks of its kind, and is held at hundreds of locations worldwide.
Organization History
The annual Race for the Cure draws more than one-million participants worldwide.
In 1980, at the tender age of 36, Komen died after a three-year battle with breast cancer. Komen's distraught younger sister, Nancy Brinker, vowed to help defeat the disease that claimed the life of her beloved sibling. In 1982, she founded a breast cancer charity organization now known as The Susan G. Komen For the Cure Foundation. In 1983, the registered nonprofit staged a five-kilometer Race for the Cure in Dallas, Texas, aimed at raising breast cancer awareness and funds to fuel cancer research programs. Some 800 racers took part. Since the inaugural event, the Race for the Cure has grown to include more than one million participants and 100 races each year at locales throughout the U.S., Europe and the Americas.
The Cause
Breast cancer reportedly kills more than 500,000 people every year.
Breast cancer is the leading cause of female cancer patient deaths, according to The United Nations World Health Organization, and kills in excess of 500,000 people every year around the world. Of those cases, the UN claims, almost one-third are preventable with access to early detection screening programs, such as mammograms.
The Races
The Race for the Cure began as a vehicle to raise money for cancer research. Over the years, as the number of families affected by breast cancer grew, so too did the event. Today men, women and children alike participate in the Race for the Cure not only to help raise much-needed funds for finding and developing a cure, but also to celebrate the lives of those who defeated the disease, to honor those less fortunate who died fighting the dreaded scourge and to educate the masses about the value of life-saving preventative medicine.
Myriad locations throughout the U.S. and abroad host races during various months each year. Distances, though traditionally five kilometers, do vary and can surpass the 26.2-mile marathon, but the USA Track and Field (USATF) governing body sanctions all domestic routes.
Fundraising
Funds help support valuable cancer research programs around the world.
Monies raised by the Race for the Cure support community outreach programs in thousands of communities worldwide, including breast health educational programs, treatment centers and breast cancer screening projects. A portion of the funds also helps sustain a grant program that provides financial assistance to research programs in a bid to end breast cancer once and for all. To date, the foundation has awarded more than $1 billion in grants for finding a cure.
Corporate Sponsors
Several organizations support The Susan G. Komen For the Cure foundation and their cause by pledging annual donations to help ending the breast cancer fight, including Ford, Kentucky Fried Chicken, American Airlines, Bank of America and Yoplait yogurt manufacturers. The foundation also boasts an impressive and lengthy list of corporate sponsors.
Tags: breast cancer, Race Cure, more than, Susan Komen, cancer awareness, cancer research
