Lee National Denim Day
Lee National Denim Day is another popular event that has raised millions to fund education, treatment and research designed to help victims everywhere escape from the specter of breast cancer. The brainchild of Lee Jeans’s employees, Lee National Denim Day has recruited companies all across the US for a fundraising “go casual” day. The idea is that for one day, employees will be allowed to wear their jeans to work in return for a $5 contribution to the fight against breast cancer. The idea quickly took off, and from its beginnings in 1996 Lee Jeans and their affiliate, the Women’s Cancer Programs of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, have collected over $83 million dollars from teams of participants representing over 3000 companies from coast to coast. The funds raised are supporting efforts to develop less toxic cancer treatments and a blood test that will allow doctors to detect breast cancer earlier.
A Global Plague
In the past, cancer has been seen as a disease of the wealthy nations. However, according to the World Health Organization, 70 percent of all cancer victims now come from low- and middle-income countries. Breast cancer awareness and access to treatment is woefully inadequate in many nations, and as a result this disease has become a silent epidemic around the world. Jennifer Griffin chose to run in Israel in part to help raise consciousness about the importance of prevention and getting early treatment in a country where breast cancer is the number one killer of women. In Bosnia, poverty and the destructive effects of war combined with a lack of awareness have led to a 40 percent death rate for women diagnosed with breast cancer, in comparison to 11 percent in the United States. The situation is so bleak in Bosnia there are only 30 mammogram machines in the whole country, which has a female population of over two million.
While breast cancer remains a deadly and dangerous threat to women everywhere, slowly but surely the tide is beginning to turn. It is quite remarkable that the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, which started out in Texas, is now sponsoring an annual event in the aforementioned Bosnia. Breast cancer is an international killer, but the fight against it has become an international effort as well, as people, both men and women, all across the planet are banding together to raise money by raising their voices. A cure may not be imminent but it is getting closer all the time, and thanks to the movement to educate women everywhere about the importance of prevention and early treatment, the odds of surviving breast cancer are continuing to move in a positive direction.
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