LEXINGTON, Ky. ? In an effort to raise awareness and money for the world?s most common cause of cancer death in women, the Kentucky volleyball team will take part in the ?Dig for the Cure? campaign this Sunday when the Wildcats play host to Georgia at 1:30 p.m. EDT in Memorial Coliseum.
The campaign will help to raise money for breast cancer awareness through the Susan G. Komen For The Cure, formerly known as the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. All ticket proceeds from Sunday?s match will be donated to the local affiliate of this organization.
Fans are encouraged to donate money for every team dig that the Wildcats make or may also make a flat donation to Dig for the Cure. All fans also are encouraged to wear pink to the match. Kentucky fans also will be auctioning off autographed balls signed by head football coach Rich Brooks and head men?s basketball coach Billy Gillispie.
The ?Dig for the Cure? campaign was originally started in 2003 by Charlotte head coach Lisa Marston, whose mother was a breast cancer survivor, and has spread to volleyball programs across the country in recent years. Last year, the campaign raised over $72,000 nationally.
Susan G. Komen For the Cure was established in 1982 by Nancy Brinker to honor the memory of her sister, Susan G. Komen, who died from breast cancer at the age of 36. Komen for the Cure is the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures. Thanks to events like the Komen Race for the Cure and Dig for the Cure, they have invested nearly $1 billion to fulfill the promise of becoming the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world.
From the 1940?s until recently, the rate of new cases of breast cancer in the United States increased by a little over one percent a year. In the 1980?s, the rate of new cases rose markedly, likely due to increased screening, and during the 1990?s, the rate of new cases leveled off. Recent data presented at the 2006 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium shows a steep rate of decline in new cases in 2003.
Although these statistics are encouraging, an estimated 178,480 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in American women in 2007 alone. In 1975, the incidence of breast cancer was 107 per 100,000 for white women and 94 per 100,000 for black women. Twenty-eight years later in 2003, the number of new cases per year had risen to 125 per 100,000 for white women and 116 per 100,000 for black women.
Even though incidence increased during that 28-year period, mortality for white women decreased. In 1975, 32 per 100,000 white women died of breast cancer, but by 2003, the figure had declined to 24.6. For black women, though, mortality increased over the same period, rising from 30 per 100,000 black women in the population in 1975 to 34.1 per 100,000 in 2003.
For more information about breast health or breast cancer, visit the award-winning Web site at www.komen.org or call the Foundation’s National Toll-Free Breast Care Helpline at 1.800 I’M AWARE?.(1.800.462.9273).
If you are interested in making a donation or would like more information about the event, call assistant coach Lauren Sauer at (859) 257-4120 or by e-mail at Lauren.Sauer@uky.edu
