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 In what has become our signature event, volunteers come together to Pay it Forward for families living with breast cancer.
The Event
Volunteers are invited to a special event in January with the only explanation being that they would help give something away. At the event, people learned that they are each being given the name and story of a woman dealing with breast cancer in their community. Volunteers were asked to meet the award winners and to figure out how to uniquely "Pay it Forward" for this family.
The idea for the event originated to celebrate the birthday of Sharon L. Bassett who died in June of 2006 after a 9-year battle with breast cancer. Sharon would have been 58 on January 18, 2009. Rather than a fund-raiser, they decided to do what she would have done - give it away. The name for the event came from a volunteer who had not yet heard of Oprah Winfrey's Pay it Forward giveaway. After learning what Oprah had done, the idea took shape.
 With the help of IU Cancer Center, Community Regional Cancer Care in Indianapolis, Wishard Hospital, Central Indiana Cancer Centers, St. Vincent, Provena Regional Cancer Center in Danville, Illinois, and others, the Foundation selects families that would benefit from paying it forward. The award-winning women were asked to describe their current medical situation, tell a little about their families, and most importantly, to describe what things "they wished for." The volunteers will then take this information and decide how best to meet the needs of this family.
The results have been nothing short of amazing.
Volunteers enlisted the help of businesses, family and friends and every year more than TRIPLE the initial investment. They have provided these women and men, many of whom have metastatic breast cancer, with things like a car, trips of a lifetime, communications equipment for hearing impaired individuals, utilities paid for a year, nutrition counseling, money for medications, transportation costs, even a pair of dancing shoes! The volunteers made dreams a reality for these families who are in the fight of their lives.
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