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about us
The 1 in 8 Foundation is doing everything it can to take the message of the importance early detection to the public.
The 1 in 8 Foundation was created by its President and CEO, Ken Vrana, while working with The Garland Appeal. Created by Sir Paul McCartney, The Garland Appeal honored the life and work of Linda Eastman McCartney, his wife, who passed away at the age of 57 from breast cancer.
During his tenure with The Garland Appeal, Ken produced and directed the award winning documentary, “Snow Angels,” which followed the lives of three women in North Carolina, all of whom had breast cancer.
While filming, Ken became acutely aware that while hundreds of millions of dollars had been invested in breast cancer research and even though “chasing the cure” had become a popular catch phrase, women were continuing to die at the rate of one every fifteen minutes. With breast cancer affecting one-in-eight women in the United States, something clearly needed to be done. October had also been Breast Cancer Awareness Month for over 25 years and yet Ken discovered that oftentimes by the end of October women were so tired of hearing about breast cancer that they tended to not think about it again until next October.
Understanding that nobody could stop women from getting breast cancer, Ken soon realized that there was something very simple that would make a huge difference; early detection. In fact, if detected early enough, a person actually stands a 93% chance of living out their lives cancer free.
With that information, Ken authored a bill that would make the month of May, Early Detection Month for All Cancers. That bill was signed into law in the spring of 2010.
In celebration, we are redeveloping our team and focus to address our commitment to the awareness and importance of early cancer detection. With 1 in 8 team members in nearly every state in the union we are uniquely positioned to assist those in need through various media, educational and fundraising event campaigns.
If you or a loved one have, in any way, been affected by cancer, please join us in our continued efforts to stress the importance of early cancer detection.
What we do
Over the years, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on searching for a ‘cure’ for cancer. While certainly an admirable goal, leading oncologists will tell you that a cure for cancer is, at least for the foreseeable future, not even realistic. While we all anxiously wait for researchers to come up with the answers, unfortunately thousands of people die needlessly every day, when that could have been easily avoidable.
The bottom line is that early detection saves lives. If detected early enough, in many instances you have a 93% chance of living out the rest of your life, cancer-free. Oftentimes this can be done with little more than an annual exam. That said, people live very different lives than they did years ago. Times demands often convince people that they simply don’t have the hour or so that may be required to get their tests done. The economy has also played an unfortunate part in the mortality rate. As people loose their job and oftentimes their health plans, they are often forced to choose between losing their homes and feeding their families or spending the money it costs to protect themselves.
Obviously, while understandable, this is lopsided logic, If, as the result of not having a simple exam done you loose your life to cancer, loosing your home will seem inconsequential. Fortunately, the new national health plan will help many people who previously simply couldn’t afford their tests, so that element should soon cease to be an issue. What the 1 in 8 has discovered however is that having the money to get your test done and actually having it done are two different things. Thus, a huge part of what we do is education. It is critical for people to realize that cancer can happen to them!
Reaching out to the general public is obviously very important but we are also developing comprehensive education programs for high school and college age kids and those groups that may feel marginalized or disenfranchised. We also give money to help fund hospice throughout the country. At the end of the day however, it is you who makes all this possible. Without your help and financial support we are powerless to effect change.
Together we can save lives.
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A 501 (c) (3) North Carolina Corproation