Yard Sale!

I headed home to South Carolina this past weekend to help my parents throw a HUGE YARD SALE!!

Day One: Clearing out and setting up! As you can see...there was a lot to clear out!

After clearing stuff out of mom's garage, the next step was to set it all up in Grandmother's driveway and garage next door (my parents live beside my Grandmother). Here is Grandmother's garage during the setting up and organizing...


We borrowed tables from church, they were a HUGE help and we used all of them to sit stuff on!


Day Two: We got an early start and took the tarps off the tables to unveil the loot for sale just in time for the first customer at about 7:30 am!

I made some signs to let everyone know that proceeds from the Yard Sale went to my Climb Against the Odds with the Breast Cancer Fund!

- Dad poses by my signs -


Mom was the one in charge of the sale since most of the items were hers and many were from her days as a K-5 teacher. She also sold a lot of her the plants she potted from her wonderful garden and was on hand to help with prices and to answered questions about all the items, plants, etc. for sale.

We raised a grand total of $990 dollars at the Yard Sale!! Check out the money box -- we chained it to the table so there would be no fast get-a-ways with it! :)


Thanks mom and dad for your help and support during my fundraising! Thanks also to everyone who donated goods for the sale, and of course thanks to all the yard salers in Simpsonville, SC for buying our stuff!

New Pack, New Poles!

TURK MOUNTAIN -- Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

This was my first hike with my new pack, hiking poles, and Asolo boots! As part of the Climb Against the Odds the Breast Cancer Fund gets lots of gear goodies donated to climbers :) The pack and the poles are from my first goodie box!

For this training hike I parked at Jarmna Gap on Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park and then hiked along the AT to the Turk Mountain Gap Trail that goes to the summit, elevation 2981 ft.

Trail the summit...

NEW OSPREY PACK! I really like the design and fit of this pack :)

-- NEW LEKKI POLES TAKE A BREAK AT THE TOP FOR LUNCH --

CHECK OUT THESE KILLER NEW HIKING BOOTS FROM ASOLO -- All the BCF climbers got an amazing discount on these Asolo Powermatic shoes! This we my first test drive in them and they passed the test with flying colors!

Lunch of champions on the summit... PB&J, Goldfish, and a banana! All my favs :)

I love a lunch with a view!

Concert for the Climb!

"CONCERT FOR THE CLIMB" - MARCH 13, 2009 - GALLERY 5 - RICHMOND, VA

I can not thank everyone enough that was involved in pulling this concert off!! I do want to give some shout outs though ... THANK YOU Allison for designing the poster, THANK YOU James River Press for printing the lovely posters and hand bills printed at a reduced rate, THANK YOU to the many wonderful musicians that showcased their talent at the show, THANK YOU WRIR 97.3 for helping get the word out and promoting the concert and BCF on the air, THANK YOU Gallery 5 for opening up your space to the show, THANK YOU Grant for bringing the bands together, and finally THANK YOU to all of you who attended the concert and helped me raise $900 in one night!

Here are some photos from the night... enjoy!

Me behind the BCF table...WRIR had a table as well and put purple ribbons on the WRIR buttons they gave out -- PURPLE for PREVENTION!

Herschel Stratego opened up the night with his always entertaining and very funny one man show of humor and lyrics....

Next was Zac Hryciak and the Jungle Beat ...a very talent group of young guys and gal -- I love the violin mixed in with the drums!

Next was Liza Kate with her beautiful voice, lyrics, and guitar...


Then....ekkk -- me! I took a moment on stage to tell everyone more about BCF, my part in their Climb Against the Odds, and the materials we had available on the table...as well as a few of the astounding facts about breast cancer.


Now for more great music!

Johnathan Vassar and the Speckled Bird was up next -- the instrument ensemble for this band is quite impressive! Guitar (a very pretty one I must add), banjo, chelo, accordion, harmonica, mandolin, and xylophone (or something like one)!


And then, for the grand finale -- David Shultz and the Skyline!


The girls --Kelly, Jess, Kristin -- up front and center during "Already There" (our fave).



I know it's a little dark, but check out the crowd....!

THANK YOU AGAIN TO EVERYONE!
YAY -- CONCERT FOR THE CLIMB WAS A SUCCESS!

Climb On,

Jess

www.breastcancerfund.org/climb09/Jbarton

Study highlights links between breast cancer, environmental toxins (02/05/2009)
Sara Goodman, E&E reporter

Growing evidence suggests that exposure to industrial chemicals, pesticides and other toxic substances increases the risk of breast cancer, according to an article published in yesterday's International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health.
The authors looked at more than 400 studies and concluded that common chemicals and radiation, alone and in combination, are contributing to the increases in breast cancer incidence observed over the past several decades.

"The picture of breast cancer causation that emerges is complex," said Jeanne Rizzo, president of the Breast Cancer Fund, which presented the articles, in a statement. "While there is no single smoking gun, the trends that emerge lead us to stop asking if there is a link between breast cancer and synthetic chemicals, and to instead ask how to act to reduce our exposure, given the strong and compelling evidence we now have."

The complexity is one of the most important takeaways from the review, said lead author Janet Gray. "Being exposed to a single compound may or may not increase the risk for breast cancer for everyone," Gray said in an interview. "The complexity of exposure to multiple chemicals, the complexity of the interaction with genes and lifestyles is just huge. It shows we need to be more sophisticated in how we do our science and also how we think about risks for a disease." "We have a lot of work to do," Gray added.

Some of the research that suggests a strong environmental link looked at migrating populations. For example, one study showed that women who move from countries with low breast cancer rates to nations with higher rates soon acquire the higher risk of their new country.
And early-life exposure -- both prenatal and early post-natal -- puts women at an increased risk for later reproductive problems and mammary tissue damage, Gray said.Calls for increased regulation.

The scientific literature points to a need for revamped chemical regulations, said Janet Nudelman, who wrote a companion article in the same publication advocating increased oversight and regulations. "The first article stated the evidence -- it looks at the substantial body of scientific evidence linking common chemicals and radiation alone and in combination to increasing rates of breast cancer," Gray said. "The companion piece pulls out the policy and research recommendations that emerged from the science."

Some of the recommendations include overhauling the Toxic Substances Control Act, the 1976 law governing roughly 82,700 chemicals in the United States. Environmental and health advocacy groups have been calling for TSCA reform, saying the law does not establish the necessary authority or capability to regulate all of the chemicals being used commercially.
Additionally, Nudelman called for bans of individual chemicals that she termed "bad actors," including two controversial plastics additives, phthalates and bisphenol A, or BPA.

"The science is just emerging in leaps and bounds about phthalates and bisphenol A," Gray said. "For those two chemicals, we're saying loud and clear that we have enough science to act now to regulate them more strictly."

States around the country are considering bans on BPA and phthalates. Industry groups have said that there is inadequate evidence directly linking BPA to adverse effects in humans, especially at the small doses to which most people are exposed. The majority of studies look at lab animals to determine potential harm. The American Chemistry Council, a trade group, did not respond to requests for comment on the article.

Climb On,
Jess

www.breastcancerfund.org/Climb09/Jbarton

Inspiring words

I've just started reading the book "Climb Against the Odds: Celebrating Survival on the Mountain" that the Breast Cancer Fund sent me with my Orientation Packet and wanted to share some words from it.

"Climb Against the Odds is about ordinary people facing extraordinary challenges. It celebrates women of grace and power who have faced an internal mountain --breast cancer. "

I thought this quote from The Breast Cancer Fund's Director was great and really sums up BCF's mission and work --

"Every mountain climb we organize is dedicated to the women who find the courage to face the disease. Every publication we produce-- from our quarterly newsletter to 'State of the Evidence: What is the Connection Between Chemicals and Breast Cancer?' -- is committed to informing and mobilizing a public that is unrelenting in preventing the disease from striking more people. And every program we undertake--from strengthening environmental health policy to organizing International Summits on Breast Cancer and the Environment-- is essential to providing the legal and research framework necessary to create meaningful change."

- Jeanne Rizzo, Executive Director of The Breast Cancer Fund

First web donation!

I got my first Climb Against the Odds donation on my fundraising website today! Thanks Larry for being the first to donate on-line! Thanks Ian for being the second!

I also got another call about a leaf raking job today-- it you're looking for me this Friday or Saturday I'll be raking leaves!

Climb On,
Jess

To make your own donation on-line please visit:

www.breastcancerfund.org/climb09/Jbarton

Leaf Raking

For the past two months I've been fundraising money for the Breast Cancer Fund by raking leaves!

To gather interested folks I created fliers and put them up around town at local markets, gyms, and coffee houses. My fliers asked for a $35 donation to BCF for clearing their yard of leaves... I was SO excited when I got my first leave raking request on Nov. 1st as I was moving into my new apartment. I made an appointment to rake their yard the next weekend.... little did I know how much work clearing a yard of leaves entailed!

The seemingly small front yard and fairly large backyard took me about 6 hours to rake and bag. The next house I raked I enlisted help from my boyfriend. We raked the front yard in about 3 hours and had to enlist more leaf raking solders to help out when we returned to finish the back yard! I'm very, very grateful for all the wonderful people that have responded to my "Got Leaves?" fliers around town! So far I have raked 3 yards and raised $310 towards my $10, 000 fundraising goal.

Luckily everyone took to heart my hours of hard work raking and bagging leaves and donated very generously above the $35 requested on my flyer. People really are nice and really do care.

Climb On,
Jess :)

p.s. I keep forgetting to take a camera with me to capture the action, but promise to take leaf raking pics soon to add to the blog!