Continuing the Fight

May 2006 Special Advertising Section

Susan G. Komen Foundation
Jan Zimmerman’s first introduction to the efforts of the Susan G. Komen Foundation came just nine days after she had a double mastectomy in 1995, when she participated in her first Race of the Cure. By the next fall, volunteers from the local affiliate were recruiting her.

The Twin Cities chapter of the Susan G. Komen Foundation is one of the organization’s largest affiliates. In 2005, this division donated about $1.5 million to local breast cancer research, prevention, and treatment programs. Most of the proceeds from local events go directly to breast cancer research in the Twin Cities; only 25 percent is given back to the national foundation.

Countless women and men volunteer their time with the Susan G. Komen Foundation, putting on various local events in addition to the Race for the Cure: Shop for the Cure, Golf for the Cure, Lee Denim Day, Page for the Cure, Saddle Up for the Cure, Rock the Cure, Drive for the Cure, and Ski for the Cure. While many of the volunteers are not breast cancer survivors, all of them have been touched by the disease. And those who are survivors have their own compelling stories. Zimmerman, who is sixty-three, has spent the last eleven years helping other breast cancer patients by volunteering and speaking on behalf of the Komen Foundation and through other personal ventures.

Zimmerman was working at Dayton’s when she first learned she had breast cancer. When the Komen Foundation recruited her, she decided to use her expertise in retail to help spearhead Shop for the Cure, an event that coincides annually with Race for the Cure. Each year, the Mall of America donates retail space so the foundation can sell Race for the Cure memorabilia, as well as hand-made cards, jewelry, and other crafts. All of the proceeds from the sale of these items go back to the foundation.

When Shop for the Cure started in the mid-1990s, the store was open for just a few days before the race. Now it’s open every day for more than a month—from April 10 to May 14. Last year, Shop for the Cure raised close to $60,000 for the Komen Foundation.

Even though Zimmerman underwent a radical stem cell transplant within nine months of discovering a lump, the cancer returned. In the years since, Zimmerman’s body has been ravaged by the disease. Still, even though she’s endured chemotherapy regularly for the past two and a half years, her spirit and determination continue to inspire others who are suffering from breast cancer. Zimmerman says that’s her calling: “I made up my mind that if I survived, I’d give a big part of my life to helping other women get through this.”