If you don’t know already, September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. With several days left in the month of September, there are still ways that you can get involved.

Let’s start off our education of prostate cancer awareness by focusing on several facts concerning the diseases. These might sound alarming or scary, but the point is for you to understand as much as possible about prostate cancer so that you have the greatest chance of preventing the disease from occurring in other people and in yourself.

Once we have learned a bit about prostate cancer, we can find some of the prostate cancer awareness events that are presently taking place, and see how you can do your part to fight against the disease. So without further ado, here are several of the most important statistics concerning prostate cancer:

• Every two minutes and fifteen seconds, a new case of prostate cancer is diagnosed
• There will be more than 217,730 new cases of prostate cancer diagnosed in this year alone
• Every 18 minutes someone dies of prostate cancer
• 1 in 6 American men is at a lifetime risk for prostate cancer
• Prostate cancer leads the amount of new cancer cases being diagnosed in American men at 33 percent

Once you have internalized these statistics, you will come to realize the urgency that exists for the fight against prostate cancer. Every little bit of help counts, so your efforts will not go unnoticed. There are plenty of ways to get involved, and you will definitely be able to join the cause in your local community. However, if you are looking to get involved with the biggest, most official prostate cancer awareness events, then you will want to do some research on ZERO – The Project to End Prostate Cancer.

ZERO is a charity organization at the forefront of the battle against prostate cancer, and they need volunteers to help them perpetuate the fight. Below are a few of the most popular events that ZERO runs every September. Choose the one that you believe you can make the biggest time contribution to and get involved today.

The Drive Against Prostate Cancer. This is probably the single most effective event that people choose to participate in. The Drive Against Prostate Cancer is basically made up of a fleet of vehicles that tour the country giving free prostate exams to anyone who chooses to sign up. The exams are completely free, and no appointment or insurance is required. These exams are designed to detect prostate cancer in men at an early stage.  Over 100, 000 men have best tested in the Drive Against Prostate Cancer, and the popularity of the event is growing.If you have not already had a prostate exam by your local physician, it is imperative that you get checked out at this event. You can go a step further by promoting the event in your community in order to make sure that as many men come out to get checked as possible. If you own a business, you can also partner with ZERO by sponsoring the Drive Against Prostate Cancer. Check out the ZERO Sponsor Center to find out how you can get your company involved with the fight.

Dash For Dad. This is one of the active events that is hosted by ZERO. The Dash For Dad is a 5K race that is hosted in 14 cities across the United States. Since the Dash For Dad began in 2008, over $1 million has been raised to put towards the research for a cure for prostate cancer. About 7,000 runners are expected to compete in the 2010 Dash For Dad, and you can be one of them. If you aren’t conditioned to run the 3+ mile course, there is also a 1/2 mile fun walk available to join in some cities.Generation ZERO. The Project to End Prostate Cancer wants to establish a prostate cancer-free world for the next generation. In order to do this, ZERO needs to raise a sizable amount of money for the cause. You can contribute to this buy investing in shares of stock from Generation Zero. The organization is attempting to raise $2.5 million from these purchases to be put towards free testing, research grants, and advocacy for increased federal funding.

The price of each share is at $18.52, and 135, 000 shares will be issued. This number of shares corresponds to the number of men who are expected to die of prostate cancer of the next five years. For the first $250, 000 raised, the Schwartz family (surviving members of ZERO CEO William A. Schwartz) will match the donations dollar-for-dollar.There are plenty of other prostate cancer awareness events that you can get involved with in order to make a difference. Though September is almost over, you can still educate people about this disease through out the entire year. This way, when next September comes around you will have recruited loads of new people to participate in prostate cancer fundraisers that may not have gotten involved if it was not for your motivation.

The weather is getting cooler, the leaves are changing color, and the onset of autumn has begun. This change of the season marks the end of September and the beginning of the new month of October. For those of you who are involved with charity and fundraising events, this means a whole new month of awareness events is upon us.

October is probably the biggest month for awareness events. Maybe because of the popularity of breast cancer awareness being in October, but everyone seems to want to launch their event in this month. It is the perfect time to get people energized to help raise money for a good cause before everyone goes into hibernation for the winter. Let’s examine a few of the October awareness events that you can get involved with in the month ahead.

To start, the most obvious awareness event is for breast cancer. The buzz surrounding fundraisers and charities for this cause is absolutely tremendous, and that is a great thing. The promotion of the fight against breast cancer has had a lot to do with the Susan G. Komen Foundation. This foundation was developed by Nancy G. Brinker as a promise to her sister Susan who died of breast cancer. Since the charity’s inception in 1982, it has raised nearly $1.5 billion to donate to the research and development of a cure for this disease. This is a wonderful cause that would be fantastic for you to get involved with. Most breast cancer awareness events are made up of group walks around a track or distance in order to raise money. You can find a local race near you on the Susan G. Komen Foundation website.

There are plenty of other October awareness events to get involved with besides breast cancer. One of the most important and effective ones is Red Ribbon Week. This event consisted of a week long assembly across the country in which schools and communities come together to pledge their freedom from drugs. Red Ribbon Week was created in honor of a Drug Enforcement Administration agent who was killed in Mexico after trying to crack down on the illegal drugs being transported to the United States. Red Ribbon Week is extremely important for the simple fact that it gives parents and teachers a chance to reach kids at a young age. During their school years, kids are very impressionable and faced with many tough decisions which will dictate the course of the rest of their lives. You can get involved with Red Ribbon Week to be a positive influence in the lives of children across the country. This year, Red Ribbon Week will be held from October 23-31. Everyone who is participating in the honors will wear a red ribbon to show that they are drug-free. If you want to learn more about how to get involved with Red Ribbon Week, refer to the National Family Partnership website.

Finally, everyone in your community will want to take part in National Crime Prevention Month. With crime being one of the most important factors in determining the quality of your neighborhood, this is an event in which people will want to work together for a mutually beneficial cause. National Crime Prevention Month was started by the National Crime Prevention Council in 1984 to recognize and celebrate the practice of crime prevention. It is an event that is recognized by both government institutions and businesses who are trying to make a difference.There are plenty of ways to get involved with National Crime Prevention Month. Several ways include adding crime prevention tips to your website or starting a Halloween safety event at your local school. You can also work with your local police department to generate a crime prevention campaign. The possibilities here are endless, and it is not uncommon to have police officers speak in classrooms and town meetings to honor this occasions.

With Breast Cancer Awareness Month only two weeks away, the Susan G. Komen Foundation is preparing for a huge month ahead. Before you know it, you will begin to see the color pink everywhere in honor of the cause.

The Susan G. Komen Foundation was started by Nancy Goodman Brinker in 1982 after her sister Susan Komen died of breast cancer. Today, this foundation is the most renown for raising money to find a cure for breast cancer.  They have invested over $1.5 billion towards research for a cure as well as money spent on awareness events. There are many different ways that you as an individual can get involved with breast cancer awareness events. Many people do their part by participating in charity walks. Susan G. Komen Foundation hosts a 5K walk which results in a tremendous amount of money being raised. Companies all over the country work to spread awareness about these breast cancer charity walks, and try to get as many people to sign up as possible.

There is a special event to get involved with this year. The Susan G. Komen Foundation is hosting the Passionately Pink For the Cure event. This is how it works:

1. Choose a How Do I Go Pink? idea. There is a list of different activities on the website, but some ideas include pink bake sales, pink auctions, pink costume parties, and any other event that will raise money and maintain the pink theme
2. Decide what day you want your event to be on. Passionately Pink For the Cure donations will be accepted at any time during the year, but your best bet for creating a buzz is to have the event take place during breast cancer awareness month.
3. Create a team. Once you have developed the idea for your event and the day you want it to be on, it’s time to recruit members to your team. Team members can include all of your family, friends, and co-workers, as well as other people who can be brought to the team through different promotional means. You can choose to e-mail people, call them on the telephone, or approach them in person. Whatever you have to do to get people involved is acceptable. The Susan G. Komen Foundation has an Online Event Kit which includes official e-mails as well as posters and fliers which can be printed out to help you recruit people to your team.
4. Set a goal. Now that you have your team set up, you need to set the bar for the amount of money you are going to raise. It always helps to set a specific number because it allows your team to become more motivated in working towards a tangible goal. Your team can set any amount that they think is doable, and it may help to set it a bit higher than is realistic. The sky is the limit!
5. Have Fun. One of the most important parts of your participation in the Passionately Pink For the Cure event is to enjoy yourself. You are taking part in a very respectable event by getting involved, and you should be proud of yourself.

September 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day. That means that all across the planet, government and non-profit organizations are coming together for the purpose of educating and preventing people from taking their own lives. Here are a few statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO) that will alert you to the urgency of this problem in our society:

• every day 3,000 people end their own lives
• for every successful suicide, there are 20 more unsuccessful attempts
• In the United States alone, there is one suicide every 16 minutes

These are some very alarming statistics that need to be brought to the attention of the public on a grand scale. So how are people creating awareness events for this cause? For one, WHO has teamed up with the International Association for Suicide Prevention to compile a list of activities that organizations and companies can get involved with.

WHO explains in its World Suicide Prevention Day publication that the purpose of organizing these events is to, “call attention to the global burden of suicidal behavior, and discuss local, regional and national strategies for suicide prevention, highlighting cultural initiatives and emphasizing how specific prevention initiatives are shaped to address local cultural conditions.”

Some of their suggestions for events include launching new initiatives, holding open conferences, placing information on your website with the World Suicide Prevention Day banner (seen above), organizing memorial services, and hold depression awareness events.

We are trying to do our part here by writing an editorial blog entry about World Suicide Prevention Day in the hopes that people will internalize just how important it is to get involved with awareness for this cause.If you don’t belong to an organization but want to get involved as an individual, you should refer to the Take 5 To Save Lives website created by the National Council for Suicide Prevention (NCSP). The site highlights five important steps which every individual can take to help educate people about suicide prevention. The steps are as follows:

1. Learn the Signs – Knowing the warning signs of suicide is the first step towards getting involved with suicide awareness. Warning signs exhibited by a suicidal person may include hopelessness, rage, recklessness, withdrawal, anxiety, mood swings, and increased alcohol and substance abuse.
2. Join the Movement – Anyone can join the suicide prevention movement by updating their Facebook status and sending tweets to honor the cause. You can also sign up for the NCSP Virtual World Suicide Prevention event.
3. Spread the Word – This step is extremely important. One individual knowing the warning signs of suicide is not enough. You need to educate the community around you in order to save lives. The NCSP asks that you spread the word by telling five people about World Suicide Prevention Day.
4. Support a Friend – If you know someone who is struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts, now is the time to help them. You can learn the most sensitive and appropriate way to prevent a friend from taking their own life on the Take 5 To Save Lives website.
5. Reach Out – If you are concerned about your own thoughts and feelings, suicide is not the way. You need to reach out to someone you trust whether it is a family member, teacher, or friend. You can also call an anonymous hot line at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) if you are more comfortable in this situation.

Please do your part to promote awareness about World Suicide Prevention Day this year. It does not take much to save a life.

The most recognizable organization in professional sports is planning a group of events to help fight cancer. These three events will take place at Yankee Stadium on three separate days throughout the month of September. The Yankees have teamed up with a variety of charitable organizations in order to accomplish the best possible results for the events. This event comes on the heels of longtime owner George Steinbrenner’s passing earlier this year. Though cancer was not the cause of Steinbrenner’s death, the message is the same – to save lives. It is a pleasure to see a ball club like the Yankees use their popularity and influence to achieve a greater good for the fans and surrounding community. So what are the three events that make up this charitable “triple play” and how can you get involved? Let’s check out the events now.

The first event took place already on September 5th. The event consisted of free skin cancer screening for all fans with tickets to the game. The screening took place behind home plate directly before the start of the game, and was completed by Dr. Darrell Rigel, M.D. and several other dermatologists. Each person was checked on the face and arms for any possible signs of skin cancer. Along with the testing, Neutrogena provided promotional sunscreen for 30, 000 fans. The event was a huge success.

Though the first event is over, you can still can your chance to participate in the second two cancer awareness events if you live in the New York area. The second event will take place today, September 7th and is for prostate cancer. The New York Yankees team up with Ed Randall’s Bat For The Cure charity in this event to hold free prostate examinations for all men over 40 years old who are attending the game. The doctors on staff for the event will be from St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center to do the screenings. Men who participate in the free screening will be able to get results of the exam within two weeks.The final event will be hosted on September 22nd at Yankee Stadium. This time, the New York Blood Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital will run a bone marrow drive. The importance of donating bone marrow cannot be understated, as it allows people with leukemia and other blood cancers to continue the fight against the disease. Donors will get their cheek swabbed in order to be entered in the Be The Match Registry. This system holds your DNA in order to be able to instantly find matches between donors and recipients.

If you will be attending a Yankees game this September, see if you can either participate in one of these events or volunteer your help.