Miles Against Melanoma

Description

Hello! I am the founder and director of Miles Against Melanoma. It started in the summer of 2010 as a small organization (I have a co-director) where I felt this unbelievable need and passion to get skin cancer and melanoma awareness into the community. I had a mole removed from my back 2 years ago and after the way I have treated my freckled, fair skin my whole life, I was very surprised that after waiting an agonizing week, the mole came back benign. My father has had melanoma, my good friend from high school and now I am enmeshed in so many people's lives that are suffering from, survived or have lost a dear angel to this underrated, underexposed illness. I am so proud to say Miles Against Melanoma, in a few short weeks, has grown to WI, MD, DC, LA, KC, OH, TN, PA and IL. These individuals are as passionate as I am and are having races the same day (or within a few weeks for a few different reasons, such as college campus shut downs), the same logo and with the same mission. It is helping build community relationships and to spread the word that skin cancer is the leading cancer, with more cases than all the other types COMBINED. One person dies every 62 minutes of Melanoma. It is a seemingly underexposed disease that needs more awareness. Orange is the skin cancer color, so my campaign is making orange the new pink. I want people to see this color and think about all the lives that are lost AND to remember to take care of their skin... It is empowering people to honor people they love that are still with us or have left us already. The races are beautiful because these people are finding others in their community to relate to and become friends and supporters with. It is allowing people to raise money for families of cancer victims who are struggling financially or to donate funds to melanoma research. Can you believe melanoma is the most underfunded type of cancer there is?