This amount marks the largest donation made in the five-year history of the 'Ride To Change the Future' event for early detection of ovarian cancer. Checks were presented to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund and to the Ovarian Cancer Institute. The ceremony also included the launch of 'Talk Teal'...
In celebration of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, Ovarian Cycle has donated $168,000 raised during the fifth annual Ride to Change the Future to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund and the Ovarian Cancer Institute.
The check presentation ceremony at Bazzarr in midtown Atlanta was attended by Ride to Change the Future riders, volunteers, and supporters. Nancy Stevens, an ovarian cancer survivor, was on hand to accept the $112,000 donation to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF) from founder Bethany Diamond and the Ovarian Cycle board of directors. Libby King, executive director of the Ovarian Cancer Institute (OCI) at Georgia Tech, accepted Ovarian Cycle’s $56,000 donation to OCI.
“The fifth year of Ovarian Cycle was our best year so far,” Diamond said. “Our annual ride in Atlanta continued growing at an amazing rate, and we added new ride locations in Birmingham, Alabama and Bloomfield, Colorado. We nearly doubled the number of riders participating in Ride to Change the Future and gave $43,000 more than we donated last year to OCRF and OCI.”
Diamond also announced that registration for the 2009 Atlanta ride will open in December. This six-week training program will kick off on March 14 at health clubs around the city, and the 2009 Ride to Change the Future will be held on April 25 at Midtown Athletic Club in Atlanta.
To conclude the evening, Ovarian Cycle, OCI and the Georgia Ovarian Cancer Alliance (GOCA) launched Talk Teal, a new collaborative program to raise awareness of ovarian cancer in the Atlanta community. These three Atlanta-based not-for-profit organizations, whose combined missions are to serve the ovarian and gynecologic cancer communities nationwide, are working together to increase awareness of ovarian cancer through the education of women, their families and the healthcare community.
“Teal refers to the ribbon color signifying solidarity against ovarian cancer,” explains Kristi Carman, Ovarian Cycle president. “Through Talk Teal, we’re working together to raise awareness and encourage women to spread the word and use their voices to help fight this silent killer.”