Dear AmericanTowns.com,

In May, we're celebrating Asian American and Pacific Island Heritage (AAPI) Month! We understand that cancer doesn't affect every racial and ethnic group in the same way, and Asian/Pacific Islander Americans face unique issues.

In an article entitled “Disparities in Cancer Care and the Asian American population,” published in The Oncologist in March 2021, it was reported that cancer was the leading cause of death for Asian Americans. (For all other ethnic/racial groups in the United States, the leading cause of death is heart disease.) Similarly, breast cancer is the second leading cause of death for Asian American and Pacific Island Women (read more about that HERE.)

Despite this, Asian Americans are screened for cancer at lower rates than most other Americans. To read more about these disparities, their causes and strategies to address them, click HERE.  

There are many ways you can join in celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month this year. Consider visiting museums showcasing AAPI history and support AAPI-owned businesses. Read books to learn more about their rich cultures and history. Here are two recommendations:

For a beautifully-written memoir and coming of age story, we recommend Crying in H Mart by Korean American Michelle Zauner. In it, Michelle chronicles her often fraught relationship with her mother and the impact of her mother’s terminal cancer diagnosis on that relationship and Michelle’s very identity.

Another memoir we recommend, this one published posthumously, is The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death and Everything That Comes After, by Julie Yip-Williams. Julie emigrated to the US from Vietnam as a child, and was 37 with two children when she was diagnosed with colon cancer. She died in 2018 at the age of 42. The memoir is constructed from a series of blog posts that she wrote after her diagnosis, both for herself and to share her story with her children after she was gone.

Give OUT Day 2023: Looking Back and Moving Forward

The Women's Cancer Resource Center is honored to be invited to participate in Give OUT Day, the national fundraising event for LGBTQIA+ causes and programs. In recognition of our agency's history and our ongoing work to meet the needs of queer and otherwise under-served cancer patients and survivors, WCRC has been selected by the world's first community foundation of, by, and for LGBTQ people — Horizons Foundation — to take part in this invitation-only campaign.

Make a charitable gift in support of WCRC's 100% free services in honor of Give OUT Day below, and you'll be invited to WCRC's "Looking Back and Moving Forward" Pride 2023 Reflection and Reception on Wednesday, June 28th.

DONATE NOW

Join us in celebration of WCRC's past and present, as we revisit our organization's origins emerging out of the AIDS crisis, the women who have led the way, and explore where WCRC's work is headed. Mark your calendars, save the date, and support identity-affirming, patient-centered cancer care for all this Pride Month!

By the way, did you see our open call for submissions to be included in our accompanying JanRae Community Art Gallery "Looking Back, Moving Forward" Pride 2023 Exhibition? First review of submissions is Monday, June 5th! The art show will open on June 30th.

A Glorious 28th Annual Swim A Mile / Move A Mile for Women with Cancer

We had rain AND shine at this year's beautiful event at Mills College, and Peggy McGuire captured the outcome in the photo above! We are so grateful to everyone who joined us in person or in spirit, and to our participants, volunteers, and donors.

Special thanks to our sponsors!

Photo credit and special thanks to Lien Le, our photographer! You can see the rest of the photos from Saturday, May 6 HERE and from Sunday, May 7 HERE. Enjoy!

To date, the event has raised nearly $400,000 of its $500,000 goal. Donations are still welcome!

WCRC in the Community

If you like being outside, talking to people, and serving women with cancer, community outreach is for you! For more details, email [email protected] or call (510) 809-0202.

Volunteer Spotlight

Congratulations and Thank You, Natalie!

We bid a fond au revoir to Natalie Slosar, who just graduated from UC Berkeley. Natalie has been volunteering in person at WCRC’s Help Desk since February, making referrals to needed resources and supporting several of WCRC’s programs, including Financial Assistance.

She will be returning home to San Diego where she will do cancer research at UC San Diego, be a medical scribe for a neurosurgeon, and apply to medical school.

As a cancer survivor, Natalie says simply, “Cancer is important to me . . . because I had it.” Her personal experience with cancer led her to volunteer at WCRC, and fuels her career goal to be a doctor.

With gratitude for her amazing service, we wish Natalie all the best as she looks toward an exciting future.

Community Partner QWOCMAP

Join our community partner QWOCMAP (the Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project) for their 19th annual Queer Women of Color Film Festival!

QWOCMAP will premiere 30 films in 6 screenings at their FREE international Queer Women of Color Film Festival, June 9-11, 2023 at the Presidio Theatre in the Presidio National Park.

From the lush sageness of memory, movement, and Indigenous traditions of environmental stewardship, to the transformation of grief, and the mycorrhizal relationships between love, collective care, and disability justice, the 19th anniversary Festival Focus, “Forever Rooted” liberates spores of sovereignty and survivance.

All films are Subtitled for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing and Audio Described for the Blind and Low Vision, and ASL interpretation will be provided along with many other forms of accessibility.

WCRC is partnering specifically with QWOCMAP for their closing night screening, June 11 at 5 pm.

From restorative Oaxacan food and traditions that nourish community, to Indigenous activism and environmental stewardship, these films are the connective filaments that transmute what doesn’t work to fuel our collective healing and liberation.

For more information and to reserve your free ticket, visit https://festival2023.qwocmap.org/.