What month is it?

If you said “October”, you would be correct.  However, aside from the Roman history behind the naming of months, the more trendy answer is cause-driven.  My employer (Bayer Healthcare) has had a marketing focus on “Heart Month” and “Arthritis Month”.  In my personal world, September was “World Alzheimer’s Month” and November is “Alzheimer’s Awareness Month/National Family Caregivers Month”.  October is famously known as “Breast Cancer Awareness Month”.  Though not top billing, October is also Bullying Prevention Month, as I heard on the Today Show, and even less well known about October, and surprisingly so, is that it’s also National Cookie Month.

With the exception of the cookie thing, all cause-driven months are created for good reasons.  One reason is to create or increase awareness.  Another is through the efforts of many dedicated and generous people, to help find cures for things that need cures to save lives, lengthen them or at the very least, increase the quality of life.  Watching NFL players wearing pink shoes in support of breast cancer is just one sign that people in the U.S. do care about life threatening and life altering issues. 

Marcia has been (breast) cancer free for about 18 months and has about 3 ½ years of daily dosages of Tamoxifen before she’s “cured”.  So we support breast cancer and are inspired by what the Komen Foundation has done to fight breast cancer.  We know that early diagnosis, surgery, radiation and drugs CAN wipe out breast cancer, because that’s what happened with Marcia.  As far as cancer is concerned, Marcia is one of the lucky ones.  But too many are not able to be cured.  Like my friend Linda (she and I met in 3^rd grade), or Chris from my church, both of whom passed away from breast cancer on consecutive days last October.  But progress is being made, with work still to be done.  And we will support Komen until we don’t have to worry about losing friends or family members to this deadly disease.

Alzheimer’s has no such hope yet for anyone.  No cure.  No treatment.  No way to slow it down.  Alzheimer’s will be an epidemic.  While there are many people who are focusing their energy on fighting cancer, I will focus my efforts on AD.  To be personally impacted by a disease or chronic condition is often the impetus to taking steps to change the world.  So far, in Marcia’s honor, we’ve raised over $22,000.  While we have a long way to go to achieve our goal of $1mm, we are off to a very good start.  THANKS TO ALL THOSE THAT HAVE DONATED SO FAR AND HELPED GET THIS STARTED.  While I have set a goal to raise money in Marcia’s honor, the real goal is to find a cure or treatment so others might avoid this life altering disease.

Wherever your passions lie, support them.  I don’t think many of us LIKE asking for money.  But whether your cause is Alzheimer’s, hunger, cancer, autism, schools for the deaf, diabetes, heart disease or whatever, they all need support.  (I would argue Cookie Month already gets my support, and do they really need a month???)  Join us in our fight to end Alzheimer’s.  In your lifetime, it will affect someone you know.