Every year SIMA Humanitarian Fund has this amazing party called Liquid Nation Ball to raise funds for social and humanitarian non-profit organizations whose efforts are focused on improving the quality of life, health, and/or welfare of people! Keep A Breast being a favorite (of course). Miss Nixon grabbed her camera and her fellow young breast cancer survivor gal pals (Allison Briggs, Katie Carney, and Lauren Parks) and headed to the party!

Kassia Meador, KAB Ambassador, alongside Jessie Billauer of Life Rolls On presented Jason Mraz, Grammy award winning artist, the highest honor -2010 SIMA Humanitarian of the Year. Rad items were auctioned off like surf trips to Tavarua and Nicaragua, exclusive dinners at fancy restaurants or private residences, surf lessons with Greg Long (went for big bucks) and even NBA Hall of Famer Bill Walton auctioned off a once in a lifetime Lakers experience.The gals had a blast and we are so grateful for the SIMA grant. We will use the funds for our Save Our Sisters [SOS] Breast Cast Exhibition, Surf Events and Surf Team. Thank you SIMA!

Reception for the Artists:
1:00PM – 2:30PM, Saturday Aug. 21
The Keep A Breast Gallery will be open 11 AM – 4 PM on Friday – Sunday, August 20 – 22 – Free and open to the public

Artists and castees will be in attendance at the reception. Live music provided by Project Pimento

Crowne Plaza Hotel, Lahaina Room
2270 Hotel Circle North
San Diego, CA 92108
1-619-297-1101
www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/cp/1/en/hotel/sancp

Event website
Tiki Oasis Ticket information

Tiki Oasis announces an exclusive art show in conjunction with the event’s 10th anniversary: The Keep A Breast Art Show is curated by Tiki Oasis co-organizer Baby Doe Strohiem and features 25 noteworthy tiki artists who have combined sculpture, philanthropy and symbolic artistry creating one-of-a-kind plaster forms made from the female torso of 25celebrity castees.

The Keep A Breast Foundation Breast Casts™ are part of Keep A Breast’s unique campaigns to use art and artistic expression to inform young people about methods of prevention, early detection, coping and support. This awareness campaign is like no other, harnessing the power of art to communicate complex feelings and thoughts about health, the female form and ultimately about breast cancer.

The breast casts will be sold at the exhibtion to raise funds for Keep A Breast’s early detection, prevention, and support programs. Through these programs Keep A Breast strives to eradicate breast cancer by inspiring young people to adopt lifestyle choices that have long-term health benefits. www.keep-a-breast.org

Artists
Atomikitty , Bosko, Claudette Barjoud aka Miss Fluff, Crazy Al Evans , Danny Gallardo, Dave “Squid” Cohen, Dave Krys, David C. Wong, Dawn Frasier Sophista-Tiki, Derek Yaniger, Eric October, Erin Joy, Heather Watts, Isabel Samaras, Jason Rodgers, Ken Ruzic/Little Lost Tiki, Mark Mothersbaugh, Maya Rodgers, Michael Fleming aka Tweedlebop, Mitch O’Connell, MP, Rex “!”, Tiki King, Tim Biskup, Velvet Glass.

Castees
Amber Ray, Angel Baby, Atomikitty, Audrey Moorhead, Baby Doe, Becky Ebenkamp, Evie, Lovelle, Fifi, Giddle Partridge, Kari French, Kathleen O’Malley, Kitty Diggins, Lady Borgia, Lili VonSchtupp, Megan Mayham, Mimi Le Meaux, Penny Starr, Jr., Red Snapper, Tana the Tattooed Lady, The Assassin, Tura Satana, Vintage Girl, Violetta Beretta

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting took place in June 2010. ASCO sets the absolute standard for patient care worldwide and leads the way in research aimed at improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of Cancer. One of our favorite Breast Medical Oncologists, John S. Link MD, attends each year. Recently he helped interpret some of the 10,647 abstracts (fancy word for research studies) that were presented at this meeting. Approximately 1,000 abstracts pertained to Breast Cancer and ranged from sea sponges being used in treatment, Bisphosphonates lowering Breast Cancer risk, to the results of the first national public breast cancer screening program in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Read on for more info about additional hot topics: Yoga and Sentinel Node Biopsy!

Since most of us KAB gals love Yoga, it was reassuring to read Abstract 9013 & 9099 because both proved the amazing benefits of Yoga (improved sleep quality, lowered fatigue, increased quality of life, reduced need for sleep medications, and reduced stress.

Check out our monthly yoga moves with Surf into Yoga instructor Rochelle Ballard!

Sentinel Node Biopsy studies provide “practice-changing” results for Breast Cancer. When early-stage breast cancer is removed, the lymph node closest to the cancer (sentinel node) often is removed and sent to pathology for evaluation. Removing this single node is called a sentinel node biopsy. Three studies reviewed suggested that routinely removing the underarm (axillary) lymph nodes during early-stage Breast Cancer surgery may not be beneficial (improve survival) for many women. Each woman’s situation is unique and should be treated uniquely.

Many, many abstracts are available for your viewing pleasure at: chicago2010.asco.org.

Learn how to do your breast self exam, and the differences between harmful and non-harmful lumps.

Ohhhhh Warped Tour!!! Here we are again, Keep A Breast’s 10th year on the Vans Warped Tour and already half way through. We are out on the road with our traveling education booth hitting a new city everyday and educating everyone on ways to prevent breast cancer. We are doing everything we can to teach every concert goer the proper way to do a self breast exam in a fun way that will help them remember to check once a month! We are meeting such great people everyday from the kids at the show, to the crew, and then the bands themselves, all of who are being very supportive. Sure the weather has been rough with the tornado warnings, hurricanes, rain and heat advisories but hey, we are still on the road to preventing breast cancer in the lives of each and every person we cross paths with! Warped tour is amazing in so many ways, mainly because of the countless opportunities we have to meet so many young people across the country. Cancer in general is a very tough subject…however, with the help of our I Heart Boobies Campaign, young people are able to open their minds with a bit lighter spirit, talk about it with their friends and family and ultimately start making daily changes to better their health and well being. This summer we have two great campaigns that we encourage all to be involved in. One is the Imagine If campaign and the other, This Is My Story, both mind opening and coping campaigns that are intended to support and enlighten young minds.

Jake from Mayday Parade

Reel Big Fish

In the tent, Keep A Breast is joined by the lovely girls skate company Skatera. They offer a place and products to create DIY shorts and tees and also win other cool prizes. Also in the tent we have the Girlz Garage staple table with their three give away Daisy Rock glitter guitars and The Chop Shop! We are so lucky to be surrounded by such powerful and optimistic women! But lets face it; the punk rock summer camp wouldn’t be the same without the boys. They rock the bracelets and tees with full support for Keep A Breast. Between the shout outs on stage from bands like Pierce The Veil and the photo documentation from All American Rejects we can say nothing but THANK YOU to all the bands on Warped tour for being so amazing! We can’t wait to meet all of you during the second half of this tour! We’ve had signings in the tent with everyone from Mayday Parade to Reel Big Fish and you never know who you’ll run into while stopping by our tent! Come out and see us at the GIRLZ GARAGE at Vans Warped Tour 2010!

Four Year Strong

What are all those chemicals in your shampoo? your lipstick? your aftershave? And what do they have to do with asthma, breast cancer and learning disabilities?

It’s time to join the Non Toxic Revolution and  watch the Story of Cosmetics. A 7-minute film exposing the ugly truth about personal care products – brought to you by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Annie Leonard’s Story of Stuff Project and Free Range Studios.

Keep A Breast feels this video is incredibly essential. We think this video if this video could reach millions of people we would really inspire change!

This video is just in time to build momentum for groundbreaking safe cosmetics legislation – the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010! For the first time in 70 years, we have a real chance to pass a bill that would eliminate chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects and other health problems from the products women, men and children put on their bodies every day.

Want to share the video and tell friends and family how they can ask Congress to act? Send an e-card about The Story of Cosmetics and help us reach a million people!

We’re going to need a lot of strong voices to pass safe cosmetics legislation, so please stay involved and spread the word!

xo Keep A Breast

We love sharing emails we recieve from Keep A Breast supporters. This one is particularly amazing. We applaud Noelle for her courage of sharing her story and love that she learned about KAB from her son, and became one of our Treasured Chests! We wish you all the health, love and support this month Noelle! Please keep us updated!

I first learned of KAB while my 14 year old son and I were at a concert 2 years ago in NJ. We went over to the booth to see what it was about and I explained to my son what a great cause this was. We purchased stickers and a shirt, made a donation, came home, put the sticker on his guitar and told my husband and daughter about what we learned. Three months ago my son bought a I love boobies bracelet at Zumiez, and soon his friends were wearing them. I was so proud of the 14 year old boys and girls. Well 4 weeks ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Because of this program my children were not afraid to talk about my cancer and they are more aware then ever how it affects everyone. Two years ago, at that concert, I never thought I would be 40 years old and be the first one in my family to have cancer. Thanks for all you do for this foundation!

Noelle L.

Hey guys its Shana & Ant, your favorite Keep A Breast volunteers from the Zumiez Couch Tour! After 6 weeks of touring the entire country we have come to the grand finale of out amazing adventure. We have been incredibly lucky to have met so many amazing people who have so generously provided their inspirational stories and advice for us to share. We hope that we have been able to aid you all in having your voices heard in order to help spread awareness and educate those that are unaware, misinformed, or who need support. Thank you to everyone that participated in our Imagine If… Campaign, we hope that has helped you to realize how cancer effects everyone’s lives as well as providing a source of comfort in knowing that however you have been affected by cancer you are not alone.

There is an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment as we come to the end of this tour. We released over 2 dozen seed bombs across the country in order to reduce our carbon footprint. Outside of the Zumiez events we have been able to spread awareness by sharing the Keep A Breast message to just about everyone we have encountered along the way. We have also documented the whole journey through video, pictures, and these blogs to share our story and inspire YOU to get involved.

It has been an absolute pleasure working with the Zumiez crew and their sponsors. Thank you to all of the skate teams, bands, & guest artists that helped create the 12 customized boards that are to be raffled off to 12 lucky kids that signed up at our tent. We sincerely appreciate everyone involved for being so good to us during this crazy trip. We are truly grateful for this opportunity and have not taken a bit of it for granted. Its been a truly awe inspiring trip for the both of us. We only hope that we have been able to reach you all just as much as you all have been able to reach us. We hope to see you next year Couch Tour!

XO Shana & Ant

Anyone can become a Keep A Breast Foundation Member with as little as a $25 donation! But if you find us out on the road at our traveling education booth you can become a KAB member for only $15! Becoming a member will help increase breast cancer awareness among young people so they are better equipped to make choices and develop habits that will benefit their long-term health and well being. Your tax deductible donation will help eradicate breast cancer by supporting our efforts of exposing young people to methods of prevention, early detection and support.

By joining our membership you are also automatically entered to win amazing prizes! This summer Keep A Breast has teamed up with SJC Drum and Venture Guitars for some amazing prizes including a SJC custom drum head and Venture custom guitar. Hurry up and become a member today!

Hey guys its Shana & Ant, your friendly Keep A Breast volunteers from the Zumiez Couch Tour!

We are going on our fifth week of tour and we have had some crazy adventures and experienced some erratic weather to say the least. At this point we have hit all of our west coast and southern events, and the kids have had some amazing responses to our Imagine If… Campaign!

We have also had some extra time to see some family and friends along the way and have received overwhelming positive reaction to our work with KAB. It seems like everyone we meet wants to get involved, including some of the bands and skate teams who have joined us on the tour. We have had the opportunity to meet up with the bands Just Surrender and Hit the Lights, and the skate teams for Lakai, DGK, and Volcom. Thanks to all those guys for rockin the KAB wear and being all around awesome dudes!

Throughout our journey we have been trying to meet up with artists to each paint 1 of 12 KAB skateboard decks to be raffled off at the end of tour. We met up with our buddy Mike O’Farrell who is an awesome tattoo artist in Colorado who so generously donated his time and skills to one of these decks. We’re looking forward to seeing what other artists we can bump into to get crafty with us over the next 2 weeks.

Gorilla gardening with the seed bombs from GreenAid has been amazing! We have been throwing these little balls of clay and aggressive growing plants all over this country to help reduce our carbon footprint! We have even recruited a few gorilla gardening pirates to help us make a difference as we go along.

Follow our adventures on facebook.com/keepabreast and twitter.com/keepabreast we are posting daily blurbs on where we are and what were doing. We have come a long way and have a long way to go but its been a truly beautiful experience so far. We are looking forward to seeing what lies ahead on the East Coast for the last few events. If you have missed us on the road or just can’t get enough – Here is live video feed from today’s event!

Keep A Breast was so thankful to be on the Country Throw Down. We had so many amazing new fans come by the tent and pick up a Check Your Self! card and information on breast health and cancer prevention. Fans and band members alike participated in the Keep A Breast “This is My Story” and “Imagine If” Campaigns and got their hands on I Love Boobies merchandise with 100% donations going towards KAB’s education and prevention programs! We even had bands buying bunches of bracelets to send out to their fans and talk about us on stage. We are so so thankful these artists have donated their time to help us educate today’s youth through their music, art and inspiration.