Open The Door Awards Dinner and Auction
The Women’s Breast & Heart Initiative Honors it's Supporters
The Women’s Breast & Heart Initiative honored its most dedicated supporters and volunteers recently at Turnberry Isle at its Eighth Annual Open the Door Awards Dinner and Auction, presented by Baptist Health System. The Women’s Breast & Heart Initiative is an outreach organization founded in 2005 to educate women about the importance of breast & heart health, while providing women with the resources to prevent breast cancer and heart disease through a three-pronged strategy. This strategy includes a screening referral program, ongoing annual screening and door-to-door outreach initiatives. Through the support of the community, donations and volunteerism, the Women’s Breast & Heart Initiative reaches and average of 11,000 homes annually – providing breast and heart health education, access to mammograms and screenings for heart disease to women whose disease might otherwise go undetected.
Michele and Don Soffer served as the event’s honorary chairpersons.
For most women, being proactive when it comes to breast cancer and heart disease is nearly impossible because of time, cost and access to proper care. But these challenges have been overcome by thousands of women over the past nine years from the unique approach by the Women’s Breast & Heart Initiative. The organization reaches out door to door – in some of the most at-risk neighborhoods of South Florida. The door-to-door contact and conversations lead to mammograms, blood pressure and cholesterol screenings and more. Women participate in physical activity and nutrition sessions while they wait for the next screening procedure. And after the screenings, each receives a bag of fresh fruit and vegetables along with a healthy eating guide to address the risk factors of both diseases.
“Everyone has a relative, friend or loved one diagnosed with breast cancer or heart disease,” said Andrea Ivory, Founder and Executive Director of the Women’s Breast & Heart Initiative. “By the time women without proper access to healthcare are diagnosed with breast cancer, the results can be fatal – and the same holds true with the diagnosis of heart disease.”
Each year, one in three women dies from heart disease, and one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Despite remarkable advances in treatment and a greater focus on prevention, breast cancer remains one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers among American women, and it remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths. Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women in the U.S., and kills more women than all forms of cancer combined. To support the Women’s Breast & Heart Initiative, visit www.FLbreasthealth.com or call 305-825-4081.
Among those honored at the Turnberry Isle event included:
MARIO MARTINEZ
Mario Martinez is a dedicated volunteer who has been a supporter of the Women’s Breast & Heart Initiative since 2010. He has participated in nearly every Door-to-Door Outreach Campaign, personally driven women to get their mammograms, and has volunteered and provided much needed logistical support.
KENNETH & JULIA DUKE
The Women’s Breast & Heart Initiative presented its Spirit of Service Award to Kenneth and Julia Duke. The husband and wife team oversee a dynamic church in Miami, and engaged their congregation to join them in support of the outreach mission of the organization. Mr. & Mrs. Duke have gathered much support for the Women’s Breast & Heart Initiative – including hosting assemblies for the collating materials, participating in Door-to-Door Outreach campaigns, as well as fundraising to further the organization’s mission.
50 STATE SECURITY
50 State Security has been a proud supporter of the Women’s Breast & Heart Initiative since 2007. Executives and staff of 50 State Security have participated in the organization’s Door-to-Door Outreach campaigns, donated and raised thousands of dollars to keep the organization’s live-saving work alive, and volunteered within the organization’s committees and boards.
