“What’s not to love?” Chelsea Winter encourages Kiwis to sign up for Pink Ribbon Breakfast
Registrations are now open for Pink Ribbon Breakfast, with celebrity cook and author Chelsea Winter encouraging Kiwis to invite their friends to breakfast in May, to raise funds for the NZ Breast Cancer Foundation.
Proceeds from this year’s Pink Ribbon Breakfasts will go towards breast cancer research, with a focus on support for clinical trials, immunotherapies, preventing the spread of cancer, improving clinical practice for better patient outcomes, and treatments for advanced breast cancer.
Chelsea Winter said she is honoured to be fronting the 2016 Pink Ribbon Breakfast Campaign.
“Food, friends and fundraising for a good cause, what's not to love?” she said. “It's amazing to be promoting awareness for what is such a fantastic initiative on many levels. A great many of my fans have been involved in previous years' breakfasts using my recipes - and I'm glad I can do more to help. I encourage everyone to get involved and host a breakfast!”
Evangelia Henderson, chief executive at the NZ Breast Cancer Foundation said the funds raised will help make up for the dire shortfall in dollars available for research in New Zealand. “We have top-notch researchers working in the hottest areas of cancer research, such as vaccines and immunotherapy, but often there’s simply not enough money to take their work forward to a stage where patients can benefit.”
With more than 600 women a year still dying of breast cancer, and with the latest life-prolonging drugs seemingly beyond Pharmac’s budget, New Zealand doctors and researchers have a vital role to play. The NZBCF helps fund clinical trials that can give patients access to otherwise unaffordable treatments, studies into making better use of existing drugs, and the development of new medicines here in New Zealand.
The NZBCF also funds breast cancer patient registers in Auckland, Waikato, Wellington and Christchurch, tracking patient treatment and outcomes to monitor treatment effectiveness and identify inequalities of access or care.
“Last year, supporters held 2600 Pink Ribbon Breakfasts around the country, attended by 65,000 people and raising over a million dollars,” said Evangelia Henderson. “We want Kiwi women to have the best possible treatment, and research is a huge part of that. So, please, host a breakfast – your help will make a real difference.”
For more information, or to register to host a Pink Ribbon Breakfast, visit www.pinkribbonbreakfast.co.nz