Breast Cancer

Lolita Harper BURBANK -- If kids want to dress up as Burbank's newest heroines for Halloween, the costume is simple. It requires a T-shirt, shorts, a pair of tennis shoes and a pink ribbon to pin on their chest. That is the uniform four Burbank women wear while fighting breast cancer -- a villain that will kill an estimated 41,200 women this year alone. Joy Valento, 56, Sandy Sessinghouse, 53, Cathy Schwalm, 55, and Mary Searock, 53, plan to walk in the Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day, a fund-raiser starting Friday in Santa Barbara and ending, three days and 60 miles later, in Malibu.

Delores Burgess once gave breast cancer the one-two punch. But she?s had to put the boxing gloves back on for a second round of fighting the disease. The Burbank resident has created the ?Loving Me? Women?s Empowerment Seminar to encourage women to be more proactive with their health. The all-day seminar is Oct. 24 at the Pickwick Gardens in Burbank. There will be lectures interspersed with interactive segments, she said, all in celebration of women and Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

LA CRESCENTA — For at least one match, it wasn’t the red and white of Burroughs High taking on the blue and navy of Crescenta Valley in a Pacific League girls’ volleyball match. Instead, both teams were in the pink — literally. The Indians and Falcons players and coaches were decked out in pink and white Thursday as part of the “Dig for the Cure” fundraiser in conjunction with National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Along with holding a raffle for various prizes at the match at Crescenta Valley, the athletes from both squads solicited donations for digs accumulated during the league contest.

Hospitals to receive charity proceeds Safeway Inc. announced last week its 2006 Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign. The Safeway Foundation has raised nearly $16 million for breast-cancer charities. Proceeds will be distributed to health organizations, including Glendale Adventist Medical Center and Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, that conduct research or provide services and treatment for breast-cancer patients. Disney looks to markets in India The Burbank-based Walt Disney Co. has contracted with an company in New Delhi, India, in order to reach out to fast-growing south Asian markets.

Jacqui Brown Olivia Newton-John is a real-life survivor. Diagnosed with breast cancer in July of 1992, the singer and actress turned what could have been a tragedy into a lifelong commitment to raising awareness about this increasingly devastating disease and its prevention. "I'm always surprised when women say to me they don't self-examine their breasts because they're scared they'll find something," Newton-John said. "It's much better to know, because the earlier you detect something, the earlier you can treat it."

Molly Shore Suzanne Weerts lost her mother to breast cancer shortly before Christmas three years ago. This year, Weerts wanted to do something special to honor her memory, so she trained for and participated in the Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk that started in Santa Barbara on Friday and ended Sunday in Oxnard. "I set a very lofty goal of raising $10,000. I didn't think it was something I could do," Weerts, 36, said. But she did. "I was surprised at the generosity of my friends, my neighbors and my family," she said.

When Menaka Swampillai needed assistance, several men stepped forward to help the damsel in distress. The local woman needed their bodies for a bachelor auction Wednesday to help raise money for her $1,900 entry fee for the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade's three-day walk from Santa Barbara to Malibu in October. The men really delivered: The auction raised more than $5,000. "I thought it would be a lot more fun to put together an event like this instead of asking friends for money," she said.

Brighton bracelets battle breast cancer Bell Cottage, in support of breast-cancer awareness month, is selling exclusive Brighton bracelets to raise funds for the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Bell Cottage is located at 3816 W. Magnolia Blvd., in Burbank. For more information, call 841-8415. Meet children's book writer Shusterman Award-winning author Neal Shusterman will make a special appearance at the Buena Vista Branch of the Burbank Public Library.

I was deeply touched by Molly Shore's piece on my fund-raising efforts for the Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk. Because October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, I think it is so important to get the word out about early detection, mammograms and breast self-exams. I walked not only in my mother's memory, but also for my children (Maddie, age 4 and Jack, age 2) so that they will have their mother around as they grow up. Over the course of the 60-mile walk, I met fathers who had lost their wives and are raising their children alone.

State Sen. Jack Scott, whose district includes Burbank and Glendale, continued to work for the passage of two education-related bills. The bills are part of a package of more than 25 bills that Scott, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, is sponsoring for the 2008 legislative session. Senate Bill 890 would establish a road map for middle school students and their families to prepare for college. ?If you don?t learn about college before you get to high school, it?