Donations Made at Safeway Help Breast Cancer Research
Original post on King 5 - includes video
SEATTLE - When you've got that gallon of milk and figured out what's for dinner, there's one last item to consider while grocery shopping. You'll see it on buttons worn by checkers at local Safeway stores. Their buttons say, "Please ask me to round up for research."
A nickel, dine or even a couple of bucks doesn't seem like much, but do the math and it adds up to a lot of dollars for breast cancer research done right here in the northwest.
Safeway's Sara Osborne said, "Not only is it local, but some of the institutions that they go to are some of the best cancer research institutions in the world".
Even a small donation made at your neighborhood Safeway goes a long way, to the labs of Doctor Peggy Porter for example. At the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center she studies breast cancer as a multifaceted disease.
"It allows us to categorize and classify tumors in such a way where we can say, 'how can we go after this tumor,' said Dr. Porter.
Dr. Porter is one of many researchers from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, UW Medicine and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance teaming up to find a cure for breast cancer.
Discoveries made in their labs lead to new treatments used by doctors, including Dr. Julie Gralow.
"Every single treatment, regiment or new drug comes through research. It can't possibly be proven without a clinical trial," said Dr. Gralow. "Nothing moves forward in breast cancer without research."
The end result is advanced care for women diagnosed with breast cancer like Dr. Gralow's patient, Ashley Ehlers Walker.
"I mean, I was 29. I was young. I was active and healthy and I couldn't really believe I was diagnosed with breast cancer," said Ehlers Walker.
But, she was.
At Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Ehler Walker's cancer was treated with surgery, then chemo and radiation. She's now in remission.
"I feel healthy," she said. "I feel breast cancer was more of a positive thing for me and brought out a stronger me. I think it's a great ending to my story."
It's a success story that's shared at northwest Safeway stores. Ehler Walker's smiling face is there on posters reminding customers that even a small donation made at the checkstand can go a long way to help researchers, doctors, and patients right here at home.
