Think Pink

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is celebrated annually during the entire month of October. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide with a lifetime risk of 1 in 8. Men are also affected and their lifetime risk of getting breast cancer is 1 in 833. Breast cancer is complex and caused by a combination of both modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors. The two most common non-modifiable risk factors for breast cancer are being a woman and getting older, with rates increasing after age 40. Some risk factors that can be controlled include alcohol use, weight gain and lack of exercise. Regular screening tests reduce your chance of dying from breast cancer. Mammography is the most effective screening tool used today to find breast cancer in most women.
 
Routine screening has significantly decreased secondary to the COVID-19 pandemic. This may lead to delayed diagnoses, poor health consequences, and an increase in cancer disparities among women already experiencing health inequities. Please speak with your primary care provider today to discuss your options.
 
During the month of October people wear pink to honor survivors, remember those lost to the disease and to support the progress we are making to defeat breast cancer.

​

Collective Contributions

The Committed Collective is devoted to making major change in all U.S. communities. Each month in 2021 we will be highlighting our work with one an organization to donate, promote, sponsor or collaborate with.

 

This month The Committed Collective Board members have signed up in our local communities to participate in Breast Cancer Awareness Walks. To get involved in a local breast cancer awareness walk in your community visit the American Cancer Society's website for more information.

​

Mental Health is Wealth

October 10th was World Mental Health Day. In 1992, the World Federation of Mental Health created World Mental Health Day. Each year a new theme is chosen to celebrate the day. The first World Mental Health Day theme was  ‘Improving the Quality of Mental Health Services throughout the World’. This year's theme is 'Mental Health in an Unequal World.' The theme was chosen as a way to bring awareness to those struggling with mental health in marginalized communities. Researchers have been tracking how the COVID 19 pandemic has impacted individuals mental health. Continued studies have shown that some of the largest number of people struggling are those who already face large challenges  such as long term health conditions, discrimination, and single parents.
World Mental Health day is a great day to remind everyone that mental health should be practiced every day throughout our daily lives. Take a look at these tips on how to be mindful of your mental health and how to make your mental health a priority everyday.

​

Indigenous Peoples' Day 

Indigenous Peoples' Day is celebrated annually on the second Monday of October  and honors Native American peoples and commemorates their histories and cultures. What started in 1977 as a day of respect at a discrimination conference as well as a counter-celebration of the U.S. federal holiday of Columbus Day, has now become a national holiday.
 
For Native Americans, Columbus Day has long been  hurtful. It conjures the violent history of 500 years of colonial oppression at the hands of European explorers and those who settled here — a history whose ramifications and wounds still run deep today.  On October 8, 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden became the first U.S. President to formally recognize the holiday, by signing a presidential proclamation declaring October 11, 2021 to be a national holiday.

​

No one is illegal on stolen land!