LinkedIn For Good – Raising Awareness for Breast Cancer
Many of us try to keep our work and personal lives separate, but sometimes having compassionate professionals around you when you’re confronted with something a traumatic as cancer can make a world of a difference.
Last month, Hala Moddelmog, the President and Chief Executive Officer at Susan G. Komen for the Cure, was kind enough to post a featured question here on LinkedIn to help raise awareness. The question she asked our 30 million plus users was:
“What’s the most effective method you’ve seen a non-profit use to raise awareness for their cause?“
Hala received nearly 400 passionate responses to her question during the week it was posted on our site. We’re hopeful that those of you who saw the question and/or responded to it were able to help get the word out about breast cancer awareness.
This month, in an effort to show that cancer awareness ought to be something we ought to think about 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, Robin Roberts who is the Co-Anchor of ABC News’ “Good Morning America” and a breast cancer survivor herself posted her own featured question on LinkedIn:
“When it comes to cancer what have you done to help a co-worker cope?”
The question was posted this morning and in less than an hour Robin has already received responses from a number of you that were willing to share your stories and support for LinkedIn members that are fighting the “C” word.
In addition to Robin’s question this week, LinkedIn is also running a poll on the site asking:
“If a co-worker got cancer, what would your first reaction be?”
When this post went to print more than 500 of you had already cast your vote and let us know your thoughts.
On a personal note, in October my dad’s girlfriend (Cynthia) got diagnosed with breast cancer. For Cynthia, and for our family, cancer does not fit squarely into October or one month of awareness. It’s spilling into November both literally and figuratively with her pending mastectomy taking place this week. This will undoubtedly be a battle we’ll fight together for many weeks and months to come, but in my heart I know it will draw us closer and hopefully make our extended family unit even stronger. I’ll be sending the link to this post to Cynthia. Hopefully it will put a smile on her face before her surgery on the 7th.
Part of what’s helped me this past month is an awesome group of supportive co-workers. Many of them have had their own lives touched by cancer. Sometimes it’s those little kind words we say to a co-worker in passing that help them get through a rough patch. On October 24th a large number of LinkedIn employees purchased Pink LinkedIn shirts and proudly wore them to work in a show of our support. The proceeds from the sales of the shirts went toward breast cancer awareness. We should be posting a group photo of all of us in our passionate pink splendor soon, so stay tuned to the blog for that update!
Tags: linkedin-answers, linkedin-for-good
trackback
http://blog.linkedin.com/2008/11/05/linkedin-for-good-raising-awareness-for-breast-cancer/trackback/
Alison Doyle November 5th, 2008
My thoughts and prayers are with Cynthia, and the rest of your family. One of the most important parts of battling cancer is the support you get from family, friends, and co-workers – and sometimes from people who don’t personally know you, but care. My heart is with you, along with my best wishes for a very positive outcome.
Dave Canfield, M.D. November 5th, 2008
Thanks for all the positive suggestions, caring, and prayers. My concern for Cynthia is only matched by my pride in (and love for) my daughter, Krista.
James P. Duffy November 6th, 2008
I lost my first wife to breast cancer after nearly 40 years of marriage. It was a devastating loss for me. We did everything we could to fight, but, in the end, it won. I hate to be pessimistic about this, but the most successful approach is to find out how to prevent it in the first place, because once it appears, it is very difficult to predict the outcome.
Kerwin Manuel November 7th, 2008
Cynthia and family – My thoughts and prayers are with you today. A family member has just finished her Chemo/Radiation in October after her mastectomy in February.
Please know that it gets better, all is not doom and gloom. You’ve got lots of choices to make, some immediate and others that can wait. It can be overwhelming, let others help you…it makes them feel better and it frees up your mind to concentrate on the calmness you’ll need to stay positive during your recovery.
Peace be with you, all…
Cynthia Arthur November 30th, 2008
First of all, God Bless you all for your prayers and your concern and passing forward your wisdom. My mastectomy went smoothly and with immediate reconstruction already underway, the trauma was not as bad as I expected. Sure, I cried for 3 days after the bandages came off, but I got over it. Chemo, due to start this week, hangs over my head like the Sword of Damocles– the anticipation is nerve-wracking, but I haven’t come this far to wimp out now.
What I have found since the beginning of this journey is that BC is a club no one wants to join, but every single person in it is an angel, lending strength, support and information to the newbies. More than any doctors (except my incomparable Dave), the survivors who graciously came forward to lend support have sustained me.
Forums like this one, and the fact that people TALK about BC now, has done so much to remove the stigma of silence and bring the prevalence of this disease out into the light. My heart aches for women who went through this years ago when everything was hush-hush and they suffered in the shadows, often secretly ashamed. Every single woman on Earth is someone’s mother or sister or daughter. 1 in 8 will go through this. And remember: BC doesn’t just target women.
The mission of my life now is to spread the news that NO ONE is safe from this disease. PLEASE ask every woman you know if they have had their annual mammogram, and if they have not, hound them until they do. Tell them MY story: there was no history of cancer in my family; I had a false sense of security: I had skipped my mammos for 4 years. Let my mistake be someone else’s trumpet call. Life handed me a lemon 3 months ago. I’m determined to turn it into lemonade.
Support Breast Cancer Research whenever you can. The treatment that will save my life was just approved by the FDA in May 2008. Talk about eye-opening!
So: I count my Blessings everyday. And I count you all among them. Thanks, Krista!
terapiasinteligentes.com July 2nd, 2009
LinkedIn For Good – Raising Awareness for Breast Cancer…
I found a great post on http://blog.linkedin.com/ today that helps to make woman more sensitive to the risk of getting breast cancer.
It shows the importance of be aware all the time because once women got it, it is just terrible, it does not got a …