Dear Friends,
The promise of a new year inspires us to reflect upon the past year, which – thanks to your support – was filled with education and advocacy for the prevention of environmental causes of breast cancer in both our communities and our homes.
This past year began with the 2015 Party for Prevention in Brookline, which celebrated the LGBTQA and friends community for their continued support of our mission of breast cancer prevention. This festive evening kicked off the start of productive work toward our mission of prevention.
Our Let’s Talk Prevention: Reducing Toxic Exposures program reached new audiences from the Berkshires to Cape Cod – in hospitals, libraries, schools, community centers, environmental forums, and health fairs. This program initiated conversations among the public about toxic exposure reduction.
We also connected with audiences on the shores of DCR’s Hopkinton and Nickerson State Parks at the annual Against the Tide events, where our dedicated friends raised critical funds to support our work.
We hosted a forum to educate and encourage discussion with our state legislators regarding much needed water quality research in Massachusetts. We are grateful to the many state representatives and senators who co-hosted and/or attended this forum. If your state legislator participated in this event, we encourage you to send them an email or place a call to express your gratitude for their prioritization of disease prevention. For more information and a full list of legislators who attended or hosted the forum, please click here.
With you, we campaigned for action. We insisted that national chains take responsibility for the products on their shelves, and we advocated for change in production practices to avoid the use of chemicals of concern in consumer products. We continued to campaign for the regulation of Eversource’s toxic herbicide spraying in residential areas throughout Cape Cod and Massachusetts. We testified at the statehouse to protect firefighters and the public from synthetic flame retardant chemicals in our everyday environments. We encouraged Cigna Health Insurance to retract their decision to no longer provide coverage for 3-D mammography beginning 2/15/16.
Our educational outreach, advocacy, and public policy impact was made possible by the tremendous support and talents of our volunteers, donors, staff, event chairwomen, and Board of Directors. Each individual has strengthened our coalition in 2015, and this impact will drive us forward with hope into 2016.
It is only with your continued support that we will be able to change the legacy of breast cancer for future generations. We must continue to educate and advocate – while more research validates the impact of environmental causes of breast cancer, while products are still made with toxic chemicals, and while public policy still places the responsibility of avoiding exposures from these chemicals on the consumer.
On behalf of the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition Board of Directors and staff, I wish you a safe, healthy 2016. Let’s continue to make progress together.
With hope and gratitude,
Cheryl Osimo
Executive Director