Stan Lee's Comikaze Brings Together Bridget And Marc Silvestri For Keep A Breast
My name is: Bridget Silvestri. I'm almost 49 years old ( Jan 2nd!) I'm originally from Illinois but have been in California since I was three years old. I'm married to legendary comic book artist and publisher Marc Silvestri. And this is my story.
My husband and I were introduced to Keep A Breast by Regina Carpinelli, CEO of Stan Lee's Comikaze Expo. Marc had been asked to be a guest of honor at this years expo in November 2013. Regina mentioned that a new charity organization called Keep A Breast was joining the convention and it would be their first venture in the comic book world genre. She asked if she could introduce us to the founder of KAB, Shaney Jo and see if a collaboration was possible and since Marc and I feel very strongly about Breast Cancer Awareness, we absolutely agreed.
Here's a little back story on why breast cancer awareness is important to me.
About four years ago, my best friend Mary Ellen was diagnosed with breast cancer and the BRCA1 gene. At the time of diagnosis, she was in her 30's, working a full time corporate job and married with two boys ages six & eight, but everything changed that day. She decided to be very proactive and had a double mastectomy, oophorectomy & chemo. Her type of cancer was so aggressive that the specialist told her even after all the surgeries were successful that now...we wait. If after three years it hasn't come back you're gonna survive this, if it comes back before three years...odds are, you won't.
Needless to say, my friend and all her family & friends including me didn't really "breathe" for three years...we waited.
I am so happy and relieved to tell you it's been FOUR years now and she is cancer free. One of the things I admire most about my friend is how she reached out to her entire family, even 2nd & 3rd cousins she had never met to make sure they knew there was this gene that ran in the families DNA. She made sure they were aware of it. AWARENESS saves lives.
Jump forward to a few months ago. Marc & I met with Shaney Jo, bonded instantly and even realized we have friends in common, it really is a small world! We discussed how we could help bring more awareness through Keep A Breast who is focused on a younger demographic. We talked about hopefully being able to reach out to all the attendee's of Comikaze Expo. What an opportunity right?!
The Keep A Breast team is filled with creative free spirits, activists, musicians & artists so it made sense to have Marc be involved being as he is a well known comic artist in the industry. One of the ways KAB brings awareness is through doing breast casts and having artists decorate the casts and auction them off. Luckily for Marc, he didn't have to look far for a Breast cast Model LOL, I have boobies and Shaney Jo offered to do a breast cast of mine for Marc to do some original art on to auction off at Comikaze Expo ;-)
There are so many other ways KAB promotes awareness, like with their "I Love Boobies" bracelets and other fun items you can purchase wear and all the money goes into prevention & education. Check them out here!
Starting this week we will be teasing out the art that Marc will be doing on my breast cast. We will continue to share WIP (Work In Progress) images here and on social media.
Remember that the only way to see the final breast cast artwork and to purchase $5 raffle tickets for your chance to win it will be at Comikaze Expo Nov. 1-3, 2013 in Los Angeles, CA.
Meet Marc and myself at the Keep A Breast booth #408!
FRIDAY - 2PM
SATURDAY - 1PM
SUNDAY - 1PM
You can purchase tickets for COMIKAZE here!
Visit the Keep A Breast Traveling Education Booth to see all the breast casts on display and all the other cool stuff they have, or just pop by to say hello, these are some really cool people.
Also pop by the Top Cow Booth to see Marc and myself. We will be at the KAB booth during the show for free photo ops.
We will update soon so stay tuned in. Thank you for taking the time to read my story. Thank you for showing support for a great cause and an awesome breast cancer organization.
Hope to see you at Stan Lee's Comikaze Expo, it's gonna be a FUN TIME!
-Bridget Silvestri
LOVING BOOBIES SINCE 2000!
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