At The Maurer Foundation for Breast Health Education, we believe that everyone has a reason why, a personal story, a turning point, or a core value that fuels their passion for our mission. Whether it’s a family connection to breast cancer, a commitment to public health, or the desire to educate and empower the next generation, our volunteers, educators, donors, and staff come from all walks of life with one thing in common: a deep belief in the power of breast health knowledge to save lives.
This blog series, “My Reason Why,” highlights the voices behind our mission – the people who have chosen to work with or support The Maurer Foundation and who bring heart, purpose, and dedication to our breast health education programs.
We’re proud to kick off the series with Jenn Wittman-Cahill, a devoted health educator from Sayville Schools whose passion for The Maurer Foundation and breast health runs deep.
Watch above to learn Jenn’s reason why.
Transcript
Hi, my name is Jen Whitman Cahill. I’m a PE teacher here at Sable High School for 32 years and now at the elementary school for my 33rd year.
What inspired you to first get involved with The Maurer Foundation?
So, I learned about The Maurer Foundation, gosh, some time ago, it had to be maybe 13 years ago, and I put in a phone call and had a conversation with Eileen Pillitteri. And we talked about what you guys do to promote education in the schools and I knew at the time that the incidenceIncidence refers to the occurrence of new cases of disease or injury in a population over a specified period of time. of breast cancer was very high on Long Island and I thought as a PE teacher that it was super important for the girls to be better informed.
What are some of the most rewarding aspects of your work with The Maurer Foundation?
Some of the most rewarding aspects of my work with the Foundation is well first of all I think the presenters are unbelievable people and they’re educators so for me as an educator it’s so lovely to see other people educating in a different fashion.
How do you believe the foundation makes a difference in the lives of students?
I find that the girls are very touched by the program and they are in fact very interested and especially for high school girls it’s important that not only they understand how to do a self-exam but that they understand those risk factorsAnything that increases or decreases a person’s chance of developing a disease. that they in fact can control to reduce or help reduce their risk of getting breast cancer. I think that the foundation is very impactful for students in so many ways. First of all, oftentimes high school students have no idea about how to perform their own self-exam. Where to do it, how to do it, what a lump could feel like, should feel like. Secondly, it not only fosters their understanding of self-exam, they then forward that information to their cousins, to their siblings, to their moms, to their grandparents, to their parents. And I think that that overall awareness really is conducive to early detection.
Can you sum up your reason why is one word?
My reason why? While it wasn’t personal when I first started with The Maurer Foundation, it now has become more personal to me. I would say one word, knowledge. Because without knowledge, we can’t know what we can do ourselves to help ourselves and to help others.