300 Long Island was a great host for the Flamingo Bowl, lighting up the lanes with pink lights and spotlighting sponsors and breast health facts on the big screen.

While pink is nothing new to those that support breast health, the Maurer Foundation Flamingo Bowl, held Sunday, March 13 from 1-3 PM, surely took it to new heights. Pink gifts bags—ok. Pink raffle tickets—makes sense. But festive and supportive bowlers pulled out the stops with pink wigs and even custom-decorated pink bras… worn outside the clothes! Bowling alley 300 Long Island rounded out the fabulous display with pink lighting and pink bowling balls.

The second annual event was a striking success, raising over $23,000 for breast health awareness. “And checks are still coming in!” said Development Officer Jenn Hirsch. The bowl-athon welcomed 137 bowlers, up from the previous year’s 88 bowlers, and raised over $1,000 more than the first annual event. Sponsor Capital One brought an incredible 18 teams to the event, including the Roy Munson team who were the top fundraisers, raising $1255.

But bowling for a cause is not all dollars and scores. For many, the Flamingo Bowl brochure urging bowlers, “Don’t forget to come up with a clever team name,” was taken in jesting ernestness. One team, the Pride Pin Knockers, claimed repeated brainstorming emails between members. The Roy Munson team name was based on the bowling prodigy character played by Woody Harrelson in Kingpin. And Team Ta-Ta’s needs no explanation for its inspiration.

Two bowlers from Team Ta-Ta's with Dr. Maurer

Many thanks to our host 300 Long Island and our sponsors Capital One, Day-Op, NRAD.

Check out our complete 2011 Flamingo Bowl photo album, visit us on Facebook or Flickr. And don’t forget to “like” us to keep updated on upcoming Maurer Foundation events.

Dr. Maurer and Senator Craig Johnson

PRESS RELEASE 

Mineola, New York October 26, 2010 – New York State Senator Craig Johnson (D-Nassau), announced that $90,000 has been awarded to The Maurer Foundation for Breast Health Education. 

Since 1995, The Maurer Foundation has been dedicated to raising awareness through their mission of Breast Health Education. The funds will help with update and increase technological equipment and assist The Foundation in continuing to provide their breast health education programs throughout Long Island.

“The Maurer Foundation would like thank Senator Johnson for his dedication in the fight against breast cancer,” said Elizabeth Zimmer, Executive Director of The Maurer Foundation. ” On Long Island we have the state’s highest rate of breast cancer, we are grateful to Senator Johnson for providing this funding, and for his compassion and understanding that we can save lives by building awareness through breast health education.”

The Maurer Foundation has educated hundreds of thousands of individuals in schools, community organizations and businesses. Through its outreach, The Foundation’s programs are aimed at dispelling myths and minimizing fears about breast cancer while filling the critical knowledge gap that exists about maintaining breast health. The website, www.maurerfoundation.org, features interactive tools such as blogging and an alarm clock that sends reminder for practicing early detection methods via text messaging, email or through an outlook calendar. The, “ask us” column features real time responses to questions from site visitors by Dr. Maurer, experts in related fields, and The Maurer Foundation’s certified staff.

For more information about The Maurer Foundation or how you can be a breast health advocate please visit maurerfoudation.org or call 516-535-5370.

Mineola, NY June, 2010: The Maurer Foundation for Breast Health Education held its “Pink Diamond Dinner” on June 3rd at The Fox Hollow in Woodbury, NY with over 250 guests in attendance.  The benefit raised $135,000 to support breast health education.

The evening included a cocktail reception, seated dinner and silent auction featuring jewelry by Judith Ripka.  The Foundation proudly recognized three prominent honorees that have spent both their personal and professional careers making a difference in people’s lives: Deena R. Ehrlich, PhD Executive Director of the Nassau County Bar Association, Virginia E. Maurer, MD Diseases and Surgery of the Breast and Founder, The Maurer Foundation and Thomas J. Murray, CPA Managing Partner Albrecht, Viggiano, Zureck & Company, P.C.

“It’s so important that all of us embrace the idea of giving back,” said Chairman of The Maurer Foundation, Andrew Corrado. “The Pink Diamond Dinner, with our honorees, has brought our supporters together in order to make a huge difference in the lives of those who are touched by our breast health education programs. With changes in health care approaching, the need to bring these programs to our communities is essential.  The more we educate, the more lives we save. Our donors’ financial support makes this mission possible.”

The Maurer Foundation would like to extend a special thank you to all who sponsored and supported the 2010 Pink Diamond Dinner, especially their Pink Diamond and Patron Sponsors: Capital One Bank, Americana Manhasset and Nassau Radiologic Group.

For more information about The Maurer Foundation or how you can participate in their upcoming events, please visit maurerfoundation.org or call Kathy Lough at 516-535-5370.

The first talk, an epidemiological perspective on the causes and prevention of breast cancer was given by Dr. Valerie Beral, University of Oxford, Oxford U.K. Her talk discussed the areas of child bearing, lactation and nutrition.  She believes that cultural differences in these areas account for the international disparities in breast cancer incidents between the developed and developing countries.

Dr. Beral discussed alcohol, height, body mass and age at menarche and its relationships to breast cancer. She mentioned that there’s really nothing one can do about their height and menarche, however one has control over their alcohol intake and body mass. I happen to feel that the age of menarche may be altered by increasing the activity level of our children from the time they are able to walk which could possibly have an impact on the epidemic of childhood obesity we’re currently facing as well as impact heart cancer risks.

As far as child bearing is concerned, Dr. Beral introduced fascinating facts beyond age at first birth. She clearly stated that number of births and the length of breast feeding are also important factors. So the earlier the age at first birth, the more children one bears, and the longer one breast feeds potentially can reduce the risk of breast cancer.  This is why so many women in developed countries are at a higher risk for developing breast cancer.  We are at an older age when we give birth to our first child, we tend to have fewer children, and we breast feed for a shorter period of time.  She also said that while a woman is taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or oral contraceptive pills her risk for breast cancer is increased but this increased risk is lost approximately 4-5 years after a woman discontinues using HRT or birth control pills.

In summary Dr. Beral states “it is neither desirable nor feasible for women to revert to childbearing patterns of the past to prevent breast cancer. If we want sizable reductions in breast cancer incidence we need to develop an appropriate way of mimicking the effects of child bearing on the breasts.” Perhaps it will be possible to develop a short term “hormonal” vaccine to provide long term protection against breast cancer.

Virginia E. Maurer, MD
Diseases of the Breast

More interesting facts by Dr. Beral

• In developed countries 10% of women by the age of 80-85 will have breast cancer.
• In the USA this year 180,000 women developed breast cancer.
• To afford women a 20% reduction in breast cancer one would have to eliminate obesity, alcohol and hormone replacement therapy.

Stay tuned for more of Dr. Maurer’s thoughts on the 32nd Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium…

Most recent data shows that 17% of breast cancer deaths happened in women who were diagnosed in their 40s, and 22% occurred in women diagnosed in their 50’s. In terms of cost-effectiveness, practical use, and precision, digital mammography is the best screening tool for the early detection of breast cancer.  To limit its use will mean that breast cancers will go undiagnosed for a longer period of time.  Early detection often allows for breast conserving surgery and possible avoidance of chemotherapy. The limitation of an annual digital mammography screening potentially crushes these options for women 40-49.

Like the American Cancer Society I will continue to recommend annual screening using digital mammography to all women beginning at age 40 and clinical and breast self examinations for women beginning at the age of 18. There is no known cure for breast cancer, though the earlier it is caught increases a woman’s chance of survival. A breast self-exam is not a diagnostic practice but a tool that encourages a woman to recognize any changes that may occur in her breast; a clinical examination allows an expert to confirm any suspicious changes and a digital mammography enhances visibility by up to 300% making it more likely to see lumps and other abnormal changes that may be present in the breast tissue. Women need to fight this disease from a position of strength and knowledge and advocate for their own health with these three components of early detection. Breast cancer is a major health problem to too many women; a digital mammography screening reduces breast cancer mortality and saves lives.

Morgan

Manager of Communications and Brand Development