On the Way to the Cure – Komen on the Go™

For the last four years, LIFE funds have been utilized to launch a pilot project with  Susan G. Komen for the Cure called the On the Way to the Cure – Komen On the Go™ tour.  This project, an interactive mobile tour, was designed to engage young women in the fight against breast cancer by driving them toward a better education about breast health and breast cancer and a deeper commitment to practical, everyday health habits that could save their lives. The tour takes important information about breast health and breast cancer directly to women and men on college campuses and at sporting events, festivals and shopping malls.

The tour features a pink trailer, which converts into an interactive learning center, complete with computer kiosks, materials about breast cancer, breast self-examination (BSE) guides, information about opportunities for local involvement in breast health awareness activities, tips on how to be an affective co-survivor and local and regional resources for additional breast health and breast cancer information. The tour also features eight-foot graffiti walls constructed to give participants an opportunity to share a memory or pledge their support in the fight against breast cancer. The “graffiti wall” stays behind following the tour as a reminder of the important messages conveyed by the experience.

In 2004, the pilot year of the tour, the interactive vehicle visited 10 universities. In 2005, the tour expanded to 15 weeks and 34 stops that included Breast Cancer 3-Day events and community stops in June and July, college and event stops throughout September and October and LPGA Tour stops. In 2007 the tour which LIFE and the Val Skinner foundation is the founding sponsor of and now known as Komen on the Go is adding an additional interactive vehicle and is scheduled for a remarkable150 stops in 50 cities.

This effort, which was the first of its kind, has already reached thousands of women and men with the potentially life-saving messages focused on by the Young Women’s Initiative.

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