Broadcaster and Breast Cancer Foundation NZ (BCFNZ) Ambassador Lorna Riley is encouraging New Zealanders to host a Pink Ribbon Breakfast next month to support Kiwis affected by breast cancer.
After going through breast cancer for a second time last year, Lorna, who hosts the daytime show on Coast FM, says Pink Ribbon Breakfast is a cause that is close to her heart: “Through my shock diagnosis, surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and beyond, BCFNZ has been there alongside me with support, advice and wonderful resources. The charity doesn’t receive any government funding, so hosting a Pink Ribbon Breakfast is a chance to help BCFNZ help so many of the women we love.
“It’s also a great time to remind women to check their breasts and when they last had a mammogram. Early detection is everything when it comes to this insidious disease, as I well know. So get to know your normal, book that mammogram if it’s overdue, and get your friends and whānau to do the same.”
Pink Ribbon Breakfast is BCFNZ’s biggest annual fundraising campaign and people can sign up at www.pinkribbonbreakfast.co.nz. Last year, 67,000 New Zealanders got together with their friends, whānau and workmates at events to raise vital funds for BCFNZ’s work in education, research and patient support.
Around 3,500 Kiwi are diagnosed with breast cancer every year and it is the leading cause of death for NZ women under 65.
Ah-Leen Rayner, chief executive of BCFNZ, says every Pink Ribbon Breakfast will make a difference: “With one in nine Kiwi women diagnosed with breast cancer, we all have someone in our lives who has been affected. By hosting a Pink Ribbon Breakfast, you’ll be helping us to achieve our ambitious vision of zero deaths from breast cancer – so that we don’t lose any more of our women to this disease.”
For more information and to register to host a Pink Ribbon Breakfast, visit www.pinkribbonbreakfast.co.nz
