Presented by RUB BBQ:

In 1994, a small group of men and women living on Long Island, New York came together to face the widespread national tragedy of breast cancer.

They set out to find the correlation between breast cancer and the environment and to change the way the public thinks about this terrible disease.

They refused to accept the chronic under-funding of breast cancer research and the silence and indifference surrounding the disease.

Breast cancer now claims the lives of 46,000 Americans each year and has become one of the leading killers of women between the ages of 32 and 52.

With vision and perseverance, these community-minded men and women on Long Island formed Breast Cancer Help, Inc., an organization with a focus on action and advocacy to eradicate breast cancer.

Its founding President, Lorraine Pace, is a nationally known breast cancer survivor. Breast Cancer Help's Co-President, Reverend Thomas Arnao, who is currently a Vice Officialis for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, has had the opportunity to counsel many women faced with the battle against breast cancer.

Breast Cancer Help has built a grassroots network of advocates across America and abroad focusing on the goals of:

Increasing research into the cause, treatment, and cure of breast cancer.

Improving access for all women to high-quality breast cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment.

Encouraging other areas in the United States and throughout the world to conduct mapping surveys to help better understand the relationship between our environment and breast cancer.

Since its inception, Breast Cancer Help has taken a multi-pronged approach to combating breast cancer.

The organization has worked to mobilize citizens into breast cancer coalitions leading to breast cancer mapping projects; it has worked to bring cancer education into our schools; served as advocates to change state and local laws to preserve our environment; and worked to strengthen the rights of breast cancer patients and survivors.

The members of Breast Cancer Help are survivors, as well as the children, parents, spouses and friends of those who have survived and those who have not. Our supporters and member organizations encompass the universe of groups that care about this issue, including physicians, nurses, scientists, legislators, and many others.

The organization is proud to be an active member of the Suffolk County Breast Health Partnership, the National Breast Cancer Coalition, the National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations, and the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund.

Among its many different activities, Breast Cancer Help advances change by disseminating information about how to do breast cancer mapping, which is now sought by our nation's lawmakers and other prestigious medical research institutions.