Thank you to the Rochester Feed & Country Store for hosting another successful fundraising event for Join the Journey this year!

This amazing group of survivors meets monthly as a part of Join the Journey’s Pink Ribbon Mentors.  Monthly meetings feature a variety of speakers on topics related to breast cancer.  This is a great opportunity for Mentors to learn the latest in breast cancer treatments, as well as ways to best support others on their breast cancer journey.

Join the Journey would like to recognize these Mentors who have been volunteers with the Pink Ribbon Mentor Program for FIVE years.  These ten women were part of the initial fourteen Mentors who originated the program in 2006.

Congratulations to:

Sharon Brodhun

Karen Canzanello

Kay Comisky

Linda Miller

Jean Nuszloch

Margot Potts

Bobbi Schopp

Sandy Taler

Ellyn Welle

Joan Whiting

Thank you so much for all you do!  It is because of this type of dedication that the Pink Ribbon Mentor program continues to grow and thrive!

~The Team at Join the Journey

Join the Journey’s firefighting friends are always looking for ways to support the Making Waves Team.   This month, they were busy selling Pink t-shirts in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness and as a fundraising effort for Join the Journey. On October 26, 2011 firefighter Robi Robinson presented JTJ’s Making Waves Program Coordinator, Sheila Kramer with a check for $2150.00 from the Rochester Fire Relief Association.  Special ‘thank you’ to Robi, Firestation #1 and to all involved in these fundraising efforts!

~The Team at Join the Journey

Creative Healing: Dried Flower Art with Ziya Tarapore

Women's Cancer Resource Room - Mayo Clinic

Gonda Building - 10th Floor

Tuesdays: November 1, 8, 15, 22 & 29 from 1:30 - 3:00pm

Art, using the beauty of nature can heal the spirit, help one to manage adversity and free the soul.  Participants will work with dried flowers to express thoughts and feelings.

Free admission to the best Party in town!

The Booker Mini Foundation has a goal to raise $100,000 on Friday, November 25th from 5:30pm to midnight at the Mayo Civic Center!  Donations accepted at the door.

Raffle Items, Live & Silent Auction, Fabulous Music and Fun all for a great mission:  “Raising funds to assist families dealing with life threatening diseases that significantly impact their financial security.”

For more information about this event visit the Booker Mini Foundation website.

The Booker Mini Foundation is a long-time supporter and friend of Join the Journey!

102.5 The Fox and Join the Journey teamed up with Rochester Ford Mazda, Rochester Toyota Scion and Lesmeister Hot Air Balloons for ‘Bras for a Cause’ on October 8, 2011.  For every bra collected, Rochester Ford Mazda and Rochester Toyota Scion generously donated one dollar to Join the Journey.  Over 3800 bras were donated!

Special thanks to the following business for participating in this event: 102.5 The Fox, Ashley Furniture Home Store, Rochester Feed and Country Store, Curves in St Charles, Roscoe’s BBQ,  Merchants Bank, Veolia Environmental Services, The Silhouette Shop, Chatfield Area Businesses, Family Tree Landscape Nursery, Whistle Binkies North and South, BB’s Pizzeria, Salon Chic and Day Spa, Caribou Coffee, UBake, Project BRAchester, Kari Amstutz Mary Kay, Mayo Cancer Research Center, Hawk and Sons Construction, Knutsen Construction Services, Lesmeister Hot Air Balloon Company, Rochester Ford Mazda, and Rochester Toyota Scion.

Thank you to everyone who donated bras this year and to the many volunteers who collected and tied hundreds of bras for this event.

 Saturday, November 12, 2011

Alliant Energy Center

1919 Alliant Energy Center Way

Madison, WI 53713

About the Conference:

 The purpose of this conference is to provide breast cancer survivors, family and friends of breast cancer survivors, health care professionals and students with the most up to date information surrounding the latest advancements in medical care for breast cancer and information about the techniques and tools available to enhance the emotional health and well being of breast cancer survivors.

Conference Fee; Early Bird Special:

The cost of the conference is $50 before October 31 or $60 after October 31.  The fee for health professionals receiving contact hours is $80.  Conference fees include light continental breakfast, lunch, conference materials and applicable contact hours.  Scholarships are available for breast cancer survivors unable to afford the fee.  Please contact Breast Cancer Recovery for details about scholarships.

For more information visit this website: Breast Cancer Recovery

Posted: Sep 16, 2011, 8:28 am

By Christina Killion Valdez

The Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

An eye-catching traveling art display featuring women’s undergarments is giving the fight against breast cancer a lift. “Most people giggle when they first come and look, and that’s OK,” said Elynn Welle, president of Join the Journey, about the artistically embellished bras. “Once they hear the story that it’s being done to promote breast cancer awareness they get it.”

From a pile of bras

Bags of bras being collected to fly from a hot air balloon, caught the eye and imagination of Francie Ginocchio of Rochester while she was volunteering at last year’s Join the Journey Breast Cancer Awareness Walk. “As a fiber artist, my imagination started working and I remembered a project called The Artful Bra,” she said. “Then the name BRA-Chester popped into my mind. I asked for and was given two-dozen bras to start Project BRA-Chester.” She then contacted fellow artists from Wisconsin and Minnesota about getting involved. The response was enthusiastic. A few of the artists had breast cancer themselves or a close association with breast cancer, and the rest know of someone who has had breast cancer.

Brassaire art

Ginocchio created the first bra in memory of her grandmother, Marie Bock Sager, who was treated for breast cancer at Mayo Clinic in the early 1940s. The bra is embellished with vintage quilt hexagons. At least 30 bras have been created since, including “Poseidon’s Dream” by Sara Pruett of Stewartville, made with painted shells, and “Hard As Nails” by Enid Weichselbaum of Rochester, covered with roofing nails. “It’s quite powerful,” Welle said, noting that viewers can come to their own conclusion about what the artist is trying to say, such as the power and strength needed to get through breast cancer or what a hard thing it is to get through breast cancer.

To view the full article please click on this link: Rochester Post Bulletin/Support BRA-chester.Sept.2011